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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25248466">DoomPet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MASTERcornflake/pseuds/MASTERcornflake'>MASTERcornflake</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doom (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Chaos, Doom, DoomGuy got a boyfriend and a pet, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Graphic Smut, Romantic Comedy, Rough Kissing, Whump</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:07:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>63,152</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25248466</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MASTERcornflake/pseuds/MASTERcornflake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Vega convinces the DoomSlayer to keep a gargoyle as a pet chaos and fluff ensues.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Doom Slayer | Doomguy/Marauder(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>177</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Slayer sat on the edge of his bed fiddling with his hands and trying to distract himself from this thoughts. Reaching up to his helmet, he fiddled with the straps that held it on his head. Maybe a walk would help. He stood up and started wandering around the fortress of Doom. He sighed as he waited for the doors of the fortress to open with a loud click. </p>
<p>Vega voice suddenly chimed in from the ceiling. "What seems to be wrong? I have done three checks of the fortress. There are no enemies. You are safe."</p>
<p>The Slayer sighed and slowly sat down on the floor with his back to the wall. He just shrugged and turned away from the sound of Vega's voice. </p>
<p>"Slayer look at me. Please?" Vega's voice had a worried tone to it. </p>
<p>He grumbled and looked up at the speaker in the ceiling. Shooting it a death glare as if to say, "what?"</p>
<p>"You haven't slept in two days and you haven't eaten a full meal in three days. Something is wrong with you. Something is bothering you. What is it?" </p>
<p>Slayer growled, angry at himself, and slouched over. His figure let out a shaky breath as tears dripped onto the inside of his visor. His voice was raspy and weak, "lonely." </p>
<p>Vega sighed and activated a cleaning bot. It slowly drove over to the Sayer and bumped into his leg. "I'm here for you." </p>
<p>He looked down at the bot and scooped it up into his arms. His whimpering got louder as he held the bot closer to him. Gently, he petted its sensors as if it was a cat. </p>
<p>Vega watched in pity. This man could take on armies of hell but he couldn't find the strength to eat. He made the cleaning bot scurry off his lap. </p>
<p>Slayer stood up and followed the bot as it slowly drove back to his room and entered his attached bathroom. It beeped as it reached the shower door. He nodded and took his armor off, getting a quick, cold shower.</p>
<p>As he went to put his armor back on the bot beeped again. It tried to lead him out of the showers buck naked. He paused for a second then followed it. He chuckled to himself who's gonna see him? </p>
<p>The bot led him along the sprawling hallways of the fortress to a long forgotten storage cupboard. It beeped loudly and bumped into the cupboard door. Vega enjoyed this game of beeping and using a physical form to communicate with the Slayer. It felt much more personal than simply speaking to a man who rarely responded. </p>
<p>He bent down covering his unmentionables with his hands. Confused, he looked at the bot then, he opened the little door. It wasn't much, just a few random bundles of clothes from his days in the past. An old marine uniform, some worn leather jacket with the name of a heavy metal band, and some pajamas with bunnies on them. He quietly chuckled to him self. He couldn't remember who gave them to him. Maybe an old marine buddy as a gag gift.</p>
<p>After slipping the pajamas on, he stood to walk back to his room. The bot refused to move and continued to beep at the cupboard. Slayer huffed and reached inside, pulling out a pair of matching pink bunny slippers. He bent down and put them on, feeling like an idiot but it did give him a little spark of happiness. </p>
<p>The bot let out a contented chip and escorted Slayer back to his room. </p>
<p>He waited in front of the door for it to click open. When it did he stepped back inside his room. The cleaning bot followed his letting out contented chirps. He picked it up and put it in bed with him. Laying on his side he slowly petted it’s sensors. It was comforting having noise beside him. The clicks and whirrs of the motor within its covering lulled Slayer into a contented sleep. </p>
<p>A few hours later he woke with a start. Vega’s voice echoed around the fortress calling him. “I believe a demon entered the fortress.”</p>
<p>Slayer leaped out a bed sending the cleaning bot flying across the room. His voice roared out a single word, “DEMONS!” </p>
<p>Charging out of the room, he grabbed his heavy cannon off the wall. He loaded it, looked down the sights, and deemed it fit for combat whilst sprinting down the halls in his rabbit pyjamas wearing his iconic helmet. </p>
<p>Vega made an odd noise, “Well... I have a plan. I don’t think you’ll like it.” </p>
<p>Slayer froze, knowing exactly what Vega was planning, and shook his head making it very clear the answer was a firm no. </p>
<p>“You are so lonely you’ve practically given up!” Vega was practically spitting venom into the great DoomSlayer’s resolve, “Keep it as a pet of sorts. It will give you company and companionship!” </p>
<p>Slayer shook his head with a less certain no. It was a demon and demons are creatures of pure malice, not (he almost was sick at the very thought of it) pets.</p>
<p>Vega spat, “Fine then die alone acting high and mighty rather than keep your wicked ego and pride in check!” He shut off abruptly the red lights in the ceiling fading.</p>
<p>A second masculine voice spoke from the ceiling, “You know he’s right...” </p>
<p>Slayer jumped. Ah yes... Dr. Samuel Hayden. He almost forgot he was here... sharing Vega’s interface. Mid-stride he froze down the hallway. The realization came crashing down on him. He had seen Slayer cry last night, run buck naked through the halls, and was currently starring at him in his decked-out bunny pajamas. </p>
<p>“Please, I’ve seen worse. Well maybe not as bad as the great Slayer crying his eyes out cause he’s ‘lonely.’” The doctor mocked. </p>
<p>Slayer grumbled and looked away from the speakers. His face was red with shame but luckily he didn’t think  Samuel could see him through his helmet. </p>
<p>“What are you going to cry ‘again’?” He chucked from the safety of the forcefield he was in then, doubted its strength and nervously shut his trap. </p>
<p>Slayer turned and punched one of the walls. He let out a growling yell that sounded somewhat similar to “Vega!” </p>
<p>The red lights adorning the ceiling flicked back into existence. “I thought you didn’t want my help.”</p>
<p>He shrugged and lowered his heavy cannon, taking on a more relaxed stance. </p>
<p>Vega happily listed his whole plan to the Slayer, “Shoot it until it’s staggered then instead of killing it knock it out.” </p>
<p>Slayer grunted, confused, and edged around a corner. </p>
<p>Vega hummed, “Knocking out is where you hit its head hard enough to make it fall asleep. In your case a simple tap should be enough.” Vega nervously watched the demon crazed demigod. Would he really be gentle enough to not smash its skull to pieces? Vega snapped out of his daydreaming and focused, “you’re about to enter the room with the demon now.” </p>
<p>Slayer gripped his gun tighter and nodded. The door clicked open slowly. A flash of a scales and wings was huddled in the corner. It took every ounce of patience he has not to blow its head off right here and now. </p>
<p>“It’s a gargoyle. Life signs are weak. I believe it is injured-” Vega was cut off by the gargoyle letting out a low growl. </p>
<p>The Slayer took a few steps closer and stoped when it growled again. He could get a good view of it. It’s neck was ripped open and it’s left shoulder was mangled. Slowly, he put down his gun and reached out his open palm to it. The gargoyle snapped at him and he drew back. He shot a I-told-you-so death glare at Vega. </p>
<p>“Perhaps you could... uhh... well you could... feed it! Yes, that’s a wonderful idea!” </p>
<p>The Slayer nodded and walked to the kitchen, bringing back a small chunk of meat. He ripped it in half and tossed a chunk to the demon. It weakly raised its head and gave the meat an unsure sniff. It stabbed the meat with its arm blades and ate it. It hobbled over to him with its head hung low, weakly begging for more.</p>
<p>Slayer opened the palm of his hand and held out the rest of the meat. Standing still and barely breathing, he watched it slowly approached. After giving the slayer a few more quizzical looks it snatched the meat right out of his hand. </p>
<p>Vega laughed, “It looks like we have a new friend. Perhaps you might be able to lead to to the infirmary to tend to its wounds.” </p>
<p>Slayer grumbled at Vega’s cheerfulness. He wasn’t ready to make this gargoyle... this demon part of his family yet. His voice came out as more of a growl than anything, “F-follow.” </p>
<p>The demon tilted its head and trotted after him. Half way to the infirmary it let out a whimper and curled up in the middle of the hall way. </p>
<p>The slayer spun around and patted his leg, “Follow.” </p>
<p>“It appears the demon is too weak to continue.” Vega sounded worried. </p>
<p>The slayer solemnly nodded and aimed his gun at the demon’s head. </p>
<p>Vega’s voice came crashing over the loud speaker. “That is NOT what I meant! It’s tired so you could carry it.” </p>
<p>He glared at the nearest speaker then, sighed and walked back to the half asleep demon. The gargoyle was about the same height as him with large wings, making the whole endeavor much more awkward. Luckily, the demon wasn’t nearly as heavy as the Slayer thought it would be. He carefully laid the demon across his broad shoulders and slowly walked to the infirmary. </p>
<p>“You’ll have to clean the wound. That will be very unpleasant for both parties if you attempt to do it without sedation.” </p>
<p>He gently laid the gargoyle on a bed and took out a needle filled with a clear liquid. The demon gave him a sideways glance and whimpered, hiding its face under its wings. </p>
<p>“Huh it appears it’s afraid of needles.” One of Vega’s cameras descended from the ceiling to get a better look. </p>
<p>He grabbed an disinfectant wipes and gently cleaned a little square of of grime away on its arm. In a fast, smooth motion he injected it. The gargoyle let out a screech and tried to leap up, but he firmly held it down against the table. It’s head slowly laid back down and its eyes rolled back into its head. </p>
<p>“Very good! Now let’s begin. Firstly we will have to flush the wound with antiseptic.” </p>
<p>The man nodded and grabbed some antiseptic out of the cupboard and gently flushed out the wound. The muscles in its shoulder were visible, skin and fat had been sheered right off of them. The wound on its neck seemed mostly superficial. Surprisingly for such a hulking monster of a man, the Slayer was tender and gentle against his one of his worse enemies. </p>
<p>Once it was finished Vega sent a small drone with bandages and began restocking the supplies in the room. “Here these are much stronger than the bandages we normally use. They will be much more suited for demons.” Slayer let out a suspicious grunt and took them. Vega chimed in again, “They were developed by the UAC for healing demons.”</p>
<p>The Slayer growled again. What was he doing? This was a demon not a pet. It shouldn’t be healed it should get its face filled with lead. He grimaced under his helmet. Dealing with this thoughts all alone... he didn’t know how much more of that he could take before he would finally go over the edge. Also, as much as he hated to admit it, he didn’t want to let Vega down. Vega had become his friend over the time they spent together. It would be wrong to hurt Vega by ignoring his advice. </p>
<p>“You have to be fucking kidding me. You convinced the DoomSlayer, the bastard who is the demigod of killing demons, to keep one as a pet?!” Dr. Samuel Hayden’s voice screamed at Vega. </p>
<p>“Well from my studies of human nature I’ve found that a pet can-“ Vega was abruptly cut off by the doctor. </p>
<p>“Look at him! He’s dressed in damn bunny themed night clothes. He’s the DoomSlayer and you treat him like a little kid. You should be-“ The time it was Vega’s turn to cut the doctor off. </p>
<p>“He is my friend. He is under more stress then either of us could imagine. I’m trying my best to make sure he is ok and you’re just being rude.” </p>
<p>The slayer pressed a button on the outside of his helmet and muted their argument. It took a long time but he finally wrapped the demon’s shoulder up in the special heavy duty gauze and unmuted his helmet. </p>
<p>The doctor’s voice was full volume screeching through the loud speakers, “WELL AT LEAST I DIDNT GET A COMPUTER VIRUS BY ‘ACCIDENTALLY’ DOWNLOADING GAY PORN!” </p>
<p>Vega stuttered, “I-IT WAS AN ACCIDENT! It was disguised as... um... CLASSIFIED FLIES!” </p>
<p>Slayer quickly remuted his helmet and tried to purge his mind of the impure images he had just imagined. He vowed never to unmute his helmet halfway between one of their arguments... maybe he wouldn’t unmute the helmet at all. Of course he’d still need to take it off to brush his teeth or Vega would yell at him. </p>
<p>The gargoyle lifted its head off the table, dazed and confused. it looked up at the speakers on the ceiling that were undoubtedly still arguing. The Slayer slowly reached down and hovered his hand above its head. It nervously looked at the fist that had killed countless demons. It sniffed it then mashed the top of its head into the hand, making some kind of happy screeching noise that he could hear even through his muted helmet. Jesus, this thing is loud...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Slayer reached down and scratched under the demons chin- well razor sharp metal mandibles. He unmuted his helmet and listened to the demon starting to make trilling and chirping noises. </p><p>Vega and the doctor had stopped arguing. Vega’s voice gently spoke from the ceiling, “Oh it seems to like you.” </p><p>The gargoyle shakily stood up on its metal bladed hands and sniffed the slayers chest plate. The man stood still, waiting for the demon to finish. It looked up at him suspiciously as if to ask: “why would you save me?”</p><p>The slayer turned away and grunted. The demon was odd and he didn’t trust it one bit. Turning to walk away, he felt something touch his shoulder and hold him back. The gargoyle had put a blade on his shoulder to keep him from leaving and screeched pitifully. </p><p>Glancing over his shoulder, the slayer took he blade off his back and began walking away again. This time the demon leaped onto him and firmly latched onto his back. It screeched happily in the man’s ear and he tried to smack it off of himself. </p><p>Vega chuckled again, “Wow it really likes you!” </p><p>He tried squirming to get the demon off but eventually gave up and resigned himself to be the demon’s chauffeur. After making his way to his room, he gently set the demon on his bed and gave it a don’t-you-dare-try-and-eat-my-pillows death glare. Reaching up to take off his armor to get ready for a shower, he stopped himself. Taking his armor off in front of a demon? Had he gone mad? He looked up at the ceiling for assurance from Vega. </p><p>“It’s ok I’ll keep an eye on the demon while you shower. You’ve been doing great.” Vega had sensed the Slayer’s nervousness. The man nodded up at him and took off the rest of his armor then, opened the door to his bathroom and hopped into the shower. </p><p>He stood in the water and slowly ran his fingers through his wet hair. A headache began to throb at his temples. Letting out a small moan, he sunk to the floor of the shower and whimpered. Why was this so hard? He just wanted to rest. </p><p>“Chirrrrr?” He felt something wet touch his shoulder. </p><p>He turned around and shrieked. The gargoyle was in the shower with him, towering over him. He covered his junk and tried to shoo the demon out, but the gargoyle stood firm. </p><p>Vega chimed in, “The Gargoyle is in the bathroom.” </p><p>The man grabbed a shampoo bottle and launched it at Vega’s speaker, effectively shutting the AI up. He then grabbed another bottle and threatened the demon with it. Grunting menacingly and waving the shampoo bottle around, he threatened the demon out of the shower. He slammed the door shut with a sigh. This was going to be a lot harder than he expected.</p><p>After enjoying the rest of his shower with no more demonic interruptions, he wrapped himself up in a towel and headed into his bedroom. The gargoyle was running around his room screeching and darting under his bed. It froze upon seeing the slayer and shuffled over to him making a weird clicking noise. </p><p>Slayer bent down and petted the demon head, then grabbed this clothes to put them on. </p><p>Vega chimed in, “Sir... um...” </p><p>He snapped his head to look at the speaker in the ceiling. Right now he didn’t have the words to describe how pissed he was at Vega telling him that the demon was in the bathroom after it had scared him. Standing stock still, he just started at the AI’s speakers. </p><p>Vega audibly squirmed, “Well... you see... despite my... vigilance the demon ate your favorite pair of pants.” </p><p>The slayer put on his shirt and boxers, and sure as hell his pants were gone. He glared at the gargoyle who was still chirping. Despite remembering Dr. Samuel Hayden was there, he decided to just walk around in his boxers since they looked close enough to shorts. </p><p>“I’m sorry about your pants DoomSlayer.” The doctors voice was solemn, as if a loved one had died, as it mourned the loss of Slayer’s pants. </p><p>He snapped his head up to glare at the man’s voice. The doctor was up to something, he never was this nice to anyone. Slayer cleared his throat and rasped out, “What is it?” </p><p>“I just wanted to say that I’m the one responsible for your pants. I was distracting Vega by overloading the ships operating systems... for fun. Vega threatened to wipe my hard drive if I didn’t admit to you. Funny right?” The doctors voice was a nervous mess. </p><p>The slayer grunted and grabbed the nearest screen he pulled up a chat system that he used to type long things to Vega. He hunched over the screen for a few minutes and hit send. ‘Quit fighting you assholes or I will smash both of your skulls in. From: DoomSlayer’</p><p>Vega and Hayden sighed simultaneously, “Fine.” </p><p>Slayer chuckled as he heard the audible repulsion the two bots had to each other. The demon crawled up on his back and continued to chirp. It started very gently nibbling on the back of his head since he wasn’t wearing any armor, or pants. </p><p>He grunted and gently shook the demon off of him. Confused he tilted his head, understanding demons wasn’t his strong suit. Once again it chirped loudly and tried to nibble on his leg. </p><p>“I believe it’s trying to tell you it’s hungry.” Vega chimed. </p><p>“Or maybe it’s instincts of killing have begun to set back in.” The Doctor mused.</p><p>Vega made a hissing noise as he got ready to tell Samuel off, but stopped himself at the last second. </p><p>The DoomSlayer gently patted his leg and motioned for the demon to follow him to the kitchen. Once they made it there he motioned for the demon to sit on a chair which, to his surprise, it actually did. It watched the man intently and excitedly clacked its blades on the table. The man fished a can of some old mystery meat out of the cabinet and put it on a plate. Then he grabbed some crackers for himself, munching on them as he placed the plate in front of the demon. </p><p>It opened its razor sharp mouth and started eating the mush. Slayer sat across from it watching its metal mandibles slide over each other in some kind of morbid ballet. </p><p>He nibbled on a few crackers. Demi gods don’t have to eat much. It was enjoyable to have someone as company to eat with, even if they were a demon. </p><p>“What’s it name?” The doctor questioned, “I haven’t been paying attention.” </p><p>Vega huffed, “Of course you haven’t. If you even had a shred of patience for our conversations you would know that’s it’s name is... oh we never gave it a name.” </p><p>The doctor snorted, “Please re-evaluate you incessant babbling before speaking or you’ll make yourself look like a fool-“ </p><p>Slayer growled up at the speakers, silencing them. He went to speak but just started coughing. Shaking his head, he grabbed a knife off the kitchen table. He carved into the wood ‘U PICK VEGA.’ </p><p>“Oh I can pick the name?” </p><p>The slayer nodded and returned to nibbling on his crackers. He never cared much for names and it’s not like he would be saying it anyways. </p><p>“Hmm... how about,” Vega spoke the word slowly for fear of causing the Slayer to go into a rage, “Daisy?” </p><p>The slayer stopped eating and looked up at the speaker then back to the demon. He could see a lot of similarities between his pet rabbit and the demon so he nodded. </p><p>Vega let out a sigh of relief, “Very good!” The demon finished licking the mush off the plate and started up at the slayer. “Hello Daisy I’m Vega-” </p><p>Daisy looked up at the speakers and started screeching. Maybe with happiness or maybe just for the hell of it. </p><p>Slayer took out his knife and started carving into the table as Daisy tried to climb on the ceiling to find the voice. He grunted and pointed at his message ‘STUDY DAISY.’ </p><p>“Getting to know more about demons through the scientific study of them is an excellent idea!” Vega spoke with that certain excitement only an avid scientist has. </p><p>The doctor huffed, “That’s what I was trying to do!”</p><p>The Slayer ignored the doctor and led Daisy down to the infirmary. It was the closest thing to a lab onboard the fortress. He picked it up and set the demon gently down on some type of x-ray machine of sorts. Daisy stood still, still a bit afraid to move too much around the Slayer. </p><p>The machine turned with a whirr and with one small flash shut off again. Vega hummed as he processed the results, “Well... there isn’t much. The biology is as it was expected. Some metal implants are perhaps the most interesting thing but we were aware of those.” Vega sighed unimpressed. The one time he gets his hands of a living demon and it’s boring. </p><p>The slayer shrugged and picked Daisy up off the scanner. holding it in his arms, he headed to his workshop. </p><p>He felt tired and sluggish. The time of day when the earth hid the fortress from the sun had just begun and, traveling between time zones fighting the demonic horde left him confused of when he should sleep. Maybe he should get a watch. He was interrupted from his thoughts and musings out the window by Daisy picking up a toy from his bookshelf. The man’s interest peaked and he sat down in his big reading chair to watch. </p><p>Daisy grabbed a gargoyle toy and the DoomSlayer toy. Gently, it lifted up both arms of the toys and set them side by side. The DoomSlayer and gargoyle looked like they were cheering next to each other. Daisy picked them up and moved them closer to the Slayer tapping his knee to make sure his attention was on the toys. </p><p>He glanced between the toys and the Daisy. Shaking his head, he leaned forwards in his chair handing them back to the gargoyle. He didn’t understand what Daisy was trying to say. </p><p>Daisy let out a frustrated shriek and grabbed another toy off the shelf. It was the marauder. Lifting its arms up, it set the toy beside the Slayer toy. Slayer shook his head again, still confused. </p><p>Daisy shrieked even louder and grabbed a zombie toy. It shoved the toy face down into the ground in front of the others then picked up slayer toy and had it jump up and down on the face down zombie. </p><p>Slayer leaned back in his chair. He looked up at Vega. The AI chimed in with a hint of confusion to its voice, “I’m not sure what Daisy is trying to say.” </p><p>“Are you all blind?” Dr. Samuel Hayden hissed as if he was in physical pain just by being surrounded by Vega and Slayer. “The demon wants to fight with you to defeat the invasion.” </p><p>“What does the marauder mean then?” Vega snapped a few pictures of the toys for his database. </p><p>Samuel’s processors whirred for a moment, “I don’t know.” </p><p>The Slayer felt rage bubble up inside of him. He leaped up from the chair and kicked the toys into the wall as he let out a frustrated yell. He stomped over to the window, staring at earth trying to calm himself down. </p><p>Vega and Samuel were dead silent, neither of them wanting to incur the wrath of the Slayer. Daisy clicked and trotted up to the man, gently poking at him with its claws. </p><p>In a smooth motion, he snapped and threw Daisy against a wall. Not enough to hurt, but it let out a yelp and bolted out of the room. </p><p>His sides shook and he fell to the floor, tears flowed down his face and his visor fogged up from his ragged breathing. Hugging his knees tight against his chest, he rocked back and forth. It was taking everything he had not to find Daisy and kill it. He crawled under his tool bench so Vega and Samuel couldn’t see him. Like this... a demigod sobbing on the floor, scared and confused. His eyes felt heavy and he drifted off into sleep. </p><p>A few hours later, Daisy scampered back into the room. It took the demon some time to figure out how to wait in front of the door long enough for it to unlock. It hopped up on the computer desk across from the workbench, watching the Slayer intently. Placing the three toys up on the desk, it let out a chirp and fell asleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What the heck was that?” Samuel hissed at Vega. </p><p>Vega hurriedly muted all the speakers in the fortress as not to disturb the Slayer. “It just happens sometimes. He can lose control in calm situation if he gets nervous or frustrated.” </p><p>“That man is a menace and we are stuck with him in this hellhole!” Samuel kept monitoring the camera, making sure the Slayer wasn’t having another breakdown. Vega would be safe most likely, but him... he was at the top of Slayer’s hit list. If his metal body was destroyed he would, in all aspects, die. </p><p>“He was just overwhelmed. Everyone is safe and this is much better than last time.” Vega chimed. </p><p>Samuel paused, “What happened last time?” </p><p>“He went on a rampage, destroyed a few things. It wasn’t pretty. Luckily it was mostly superficial.” Vega let out a sigh of relief, “it looks like he’s waking up.” </p><p>The slayer stirred, still wedged firmly under his workbench. His throat and head were pounding; every joint ached from his awkward sleeping position. Slowly, he whimpered and crawled up into the chair in front of his computer. </p><p>Daisy was sleeping in a ball on the computer desk, whining softly and kicking its legs. The slayer gently started petting the demon. It lifted its head up chirping softly at the man as if you say, “U good?” </p><p>The Slayer nodded his head and pressed his forehead to its. It surprised him that even though Daisy was a demon her presence calmed him. As gently as it could, Daisy poked his lap with its blades. Nodding, he scooted back in the chair and relaxed. Daisy gently crawled into his lap and pressed the top of its head under his chin. It made a variety of chirps and chirrs, trying to wedge itself into the curve of Slayer’s body then, it stretched out its wings and wrapped them around the man. Looking down at the demon, he chuckled and hugged it back tightly, gently patting its back. Guilt washed over him as he remembered how he kicked Daisy’s toys away. </p><p>Looking past its wings he saw the toys on the desk, all with their arms facing upwards. His mind raced with curiosity. The demon was intent on these three toys and putting their hands in the air. Reaching past it, he grabbed the DoomSlayer toy. Daisy leaned back and watched him hold the toy intently. </p><p>Giving the demon a small nod, he put the arms of the toy down. Daisy started clicking and chirping up a storm. Using its bade, it moved that arms back up into the air. </p><p>The man handed the toy to Daisy and leaned back in the chair, defeated. Daisy was a difficult stubborn little demon, in someways Slayer liked that, in other ways it annoyed him. He desperately wished they could communicate better. This puzzle game of playing with the toys felt impossible to him. It wasn’t just something you could smash, it was the opposite. Any act of violence towards the puzzle just made him feel worse and even more frustrated. Stroking its back the Slayer sighed and stared into Daisy’s face. Daisy clicked at him and rolled its head backwards, scooting onto the floor and clicking louder. </p><p>He patted the desk, listening to the soft echo of his metal on metal over Daisy’s clicking. Slowly, now that the demon was off his lap, he stood up and stretched his back, reaching up to the ceiling and arching his back as he yawned. Crouching down, he tapped his shoulders, letting Daisy hop up on him. </p><p>He was half tempted to call up Vega or Samuel but, he decided against it. They were probably both terrified by his breakdown. He didn’t deserve Vega. That AI deserved more than a half stable demi god with anger issues. Sighing, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He would worry about it later. </p><p>Daisy leaped off his shoulders and ran in front of him, darting into the kitchen. When he rounded the corner he saw it perched in chair demanding to be fed immediately. </p><p>The Slayer grabbed a can of meat and emptied it out on a plate again. Grunting and placing it down in front of Daisy’s hungry maw. It nibbled the food, eating about half, then scooted the plate to Slayer. </p><p>He slid it back to the obviously still hungry demon, but once more it scooted it back to him, insistent that he eat it. The slayer shrugged, pulling up his helmet halfway to reveal his mouth, and took a bite. It wasn’t terrible but wasn’t the best thing he had ever eaten. He thought for a second then realized a demon just shared with him. His eyes picked with tears, hidden behind his helmet. Nodding his head he scooted the plate back to the demon. They ate the rest of the meal together. The sound of the plate sliding across the table echoed down the hallways periodically. </p><p>Once it was finished the demon hopped to the door, chirping, and led Slayer to his room. It pawed at the bathroom door, trying to convince Slayer to get a shower. </p><p>The man nodded obediently, opening the bathroom door, stripping out of his tear and sweat stained shirt and boxers. He slipped off his helmet last, taking a long look at his red puffy face. He hated his face. It reminded him of his humanity. Well... what little there was of it left. He wasn’t man or monster, almost closer to something like a machine. Just a machine that slaughtered demons constantly. Once again he shoved it to the back of his mind, desperately trying to bury his thoughts. He supposed he was running out of space in the back of his mind since every time he shoved a painful thought back there another one popped up ready to inflict more pain upon him. </p><p>Wiping at the tear stains on his face, he hopped in the shower. After a bit of fiddling with the controls, he cranked up the heat and treated himself to a nice warm shower and, this time Daisy didn’t come barging in. Everyone in the fortress seemed to be treading lightly, babying the worn out tired Slayer. As much as he hated to admit it, it was very nice to have people doting on him. Love and kindness wasn’t something he saw often in hell, but now? He’s showered in it... well, except Samuel he’s still a jackass and most likely will be one till the end of time. </p><p>He looked up at the speaker, making sure it was still disabled after he glory killed it with a shampoo bottle, and cracked a quick smile. Life was getting better for him. Sure it was a little slow, just tiny baby steps towards recovery but, he was happy he was taking them. </p><p>Hopping out of the shower, he bundled his towel around him and put his helmet back on. In a rather devilish mood, he glanced at himself in the mirror. He was, if Vega’s earthen slang translations were correct, a beefcake. Looking up at the speaker again, he dropped his towel and flexed to himself in the mirror. Shame he had to cover up in so much armor, but demons would rip him to shreds if he didn’t. </p><p>After wrapping his towel around him once more, he stepped out of the bathroom in a could of steam. Daisy clicked happily and ran up to Slayer. It rubbed his metal mandibles up and down the man’s leg, trying its best not to cut him. Some form of affection the Slayer supposed. It was sweet but terrifying as Daisy’s razor blade like mandibles touched his skin. </p><p>Daisy started clicking in an odd tone and ran over to his wardrobe. It tapped at the drawers and Slayer obliged, opening them. It stuck it’s head down in his clothes and picked out a pair of jeans and a jacket, the whole time chirping as happy as a clam. It turned and placed them on the floor in front of him. </p><p>He shrugged, it wasn’t every day a demon picks out your clothes, and slipped them on. The jeans were worn and surprisingly comfortable. The jacket was a tad too small and wouldn’t close, leaving Slayer’s abs exposed to the cool air of the fortress. He shrugged, guess he got his wish to finally show more skin after all even if he dressed like a washed up country singer’s addict brother. </p><p>He strutted out of his room, trying his best not to chuckle at how proud Daisy looked. It chirped up at the ceiling trying to be the attention of Vega and Samuel to say, “Look I picked out that outfit!” </p><p>Grumbling with annoyance, the slayer tuned and walked back into his room. He almost forgot something important for what he was planning, his shotgun. Unlike most of his ideas, made by the seat of his pants, he had an idea that almost bordered an actual scientific thought. Vega would be proud. </p><p>Wandering through the halls, he found the elevator and let Daisy inside. It looked around and sniffed the doors as they shut with a clang. The floor shuttered, sending Daisy cowering behind the Slayer as the elevator descended. Red hellish light flickered off the Slayer’s face as he gazed upon the long dead sentinel mech that towered over the training area of the fortress. He absent mildly wondered how fun it would be to pilot one of those. He was interrupted by the clank of the elevator doors opening. </p><p>Daisy scurried out, chirping nervously. Without much warning the Slayer handed the shotgun to it. Motioning at the metal walls, he gave the go ahead to shoot. </p><p>It tilted its head and fiddled with the gun, trying to hold something with knife hands was tough, but not impossible. After a few minutes, Daisy had a somewhat good grip, one bladed hand wedged under the front grip and another hovering by the trigger. It chirped nervously again, scrunching its face in fear, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. It pulled the trigger again and was met with the same result. </p><p>The Slayer chuckled and took the gun off the demon, this time actually loading the gun with two shells. He handed his back, and watched as Daisy snatched it up and aimed in only a few seconds. This time when it pulled the trigger a boom exploded through the room. Daisy seemed a bit frightened but mostly excited. It pulled the other trigger and shot again. </p><p>The Slayer nodded and took two shells out of his tool belt. Daisy somehow managed to use the break action, and it watched as smoke wafted out of the steel barrels. The man handed it the shells. Daisy grabbed them in its mouth, loaded the barrels then, snapped the gun shut with a satisfying click. It fired two more shots at the wall then turned to Slayer chirping for more bullets. He shook his head and walked back to the elevator. </p><p>Daisy whined and scrambled back into the elevator, still holding the shotgun. The Slayer pressed his hand to a key pad signaling that he wanted a portal opened up to earth. </p><p>“Is it wise to go with Daisy?” Vega spoke nervously from the ceiling. </p><p>The DoomSlayer shrugged as Daisy hopped happily beside him. Once they got back to the main control room, he pressed an orb on the control panel, making the panel slide down, and activating a portal right in front of the windows over looking earth. He gave Daisy and quick nod and they walked into the portal together. </p><p>Here we go...</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You guys have shown me so much love with your comments and kudos! I’m so happy all you wonderful people enjoy this story.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Writing a doom fanfic while playing the mission you're writing about is a wonderful experience. Anyways enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shit. The Slayer’s vision blurred. He was running as fast as he could, sides heaving and shaking with every move. He glanced over his shoulder making sure no one was following him through the halls of Taras Nabad.</p><p>He didn’t even know how it happened. In a split second a Cacodemon had clamped its jaws around his arm and yanked him up into the air. In all honesty he wasn’t sure who had more of a look a surprise, him or the demon. As soon as it dropped him, screeching in terror, he fled, leaving behind Daisy. </p><p>He had to go back for Daisy. Stopping dead in his tracks, he went turn to return to the fray but slipped on his own blood. </p><p>Fuck. There was so much blood. Too much. He felt dizzy and weak; he couldn’t sit up, only lie in his own puddle of blood that was rapidly growing. </p><p>Vega started speaking but his own ragged breathing was all he listened to. Focusing on anything else was too much to bare. A wave of pain ran through his body like red hot fire. He tried unsuccessfully to muffle his screams of agony. </p><p>With a gasp of pain, he kicked his legs, shoving himself into an alcove. Hopefully he would be hidden enough here. With his right hand he started unbuckling the armor on his damaged left arm. He took a few deep breaths then looked at the wound. It was deep. He could see the glimmer of bone. Blood was pouring from it, the floor tiles all around him were slick with it. His eyes rolled back in his head, and it took everything he had not to faint. </p><p>Vega’s voice finally made it through to him. “Activating the tourniquet function. This will hurt but it is necessary.” </p><p>The top of his arm was engulfed in pain as of the straps cut off blood flow. He let out a scream and slid down the wall of the alcove till he was lying with his back against the floor. With the last bit of strength he tucked his legs back into the alcove, so no one could see him from the main hall. </p><p>All he could do was lie on the ground and listen to Vega try to calm him down. The words blurred together, sounding more like a far away humming than anything. He just couldn’t understand why his arm hurt this bad. Did Cacodemons have venom? His thoughts were cut off by a wave of red hot pain shooting through him. His back arched off the ground, black spots danced across his vision. </p><p>A demon poked its head around the corner. The Slayer hissed in pain and tried to grab his gun before realizing it was Daisy. He watched as Daisy sniffed the wound, that now had stopped bleeding due to the tourniquet, and gave the man a concerned click. </p><p>It hopped back away from him and poked its head around the corner, motioning with its blades for someone to come closer. </p><p>The sound of heavy footsteps and the grinding noise of metal armor approached. It echoed down the halls menacingly. Then lo and behold the marauder stepped right in front of the alcove. He stared in distain down at the crumpled form of the slayer. With a jerk of his arm his axe activated, red hellish light engulfed the three. </p><p>The Slayer kept his head up, starring right into the hellish light from the axe. He wasn’t going to back down. It didn’t matter that he couldn’t move. There was no chance that he would let the marauder scare him. </p><p>Daisy chirped up at the marauder, tilting its head with confusion. It reached out a blade and tapped the demon’s leg, giving him a “hey-bro-chill-this-is-my-friend” look. </p><p>The marauder glared down at the gargoyle and nodded, deactivating his axe and throwing it across the hall. Then, he grabbed his shotgun and tossed it aside as well. Kneeling down next to the Slayer, he grabbed the man’s arm to examine the wound. </p><p>The Slayer screamed, with adrenaline giving him some energy, and flailed his legs about. He desperately tried to squirm out of the marauder’s grasp. The demon held him firmly. “Calm him down.” </p><p>Daisy obeyed, curling up by the slayer’s head and giving him some reassuring chirps. The man slowly stopped trying to pry himself away and focused on Daisy. His cries of pain echoed through the halls. </p><p>Gently, the marauder took out a rag and doused it in some liquid. “This will hurt like... hmm... hell.” </p><p>As soon as the wet rag touched the wound, the Slayer howled in pain. His head rolled back, his chest heaving erratically, and he sobbed in agony. </p><p>He removed the rag from the wound and nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Good it’s all clean.” Tucking the rag away, he opened the little satchel on his side and took out a needle and thread. Immediately he wondered how he would even stitch up the Slayer’s wound. The man was flailing and screaming at the slightest touch, let alone the marauder jabbing into him. He played with the thread for a second, debating his options. </p><p>“I may be of assistance to you.” Vega chimed in, using the speaker of the helmet to communicate with the marauder. “I can contain him and limit his vocalisations so he does not draw attention to the other demons.” </p><p>“Do it then.” The marauder watched as the DoomSlayer’s armor tensed up. The man strained against it, but he could barely move. His eyes shot around looking for Vega’s symbol and he panicked as he desperately tried to move. “Try and relax.” The marauder gave the man a half shrug. He knew the man wouldn’t relax but it was a nice gesture to tell him at least. </p><p>He pressed the needle deep into the man’s skin and tuned out his screams. Even though they were muffled by Vega, the shaking sobs still found their way to the demon’s ears. </p><p>The Slayer strained against his armor. The metal groaned and popped as he fought against it. Daisy tapped on the visor of his helmet. He gave the demon a shaky smile and quit struggling. He was desperate, grasping at vague, feral feelings. Fight? Flight? It all felt the same. He went limp. </p><p>Daisy went berserk, chirping an wailing at the man’s visor. The marauder rapidly finished the last stitches. “It he alive?”</p><p>Vega sounded worried, “Yes but his life signal is dropping fast. I’m going to open a portal can you get him through it?” </p><p>The marauder looked over his shoulder. If he went through the portal there would be no returning. Hell would reject him. He was saving the Slayer. His stomach churned at the mere thought. After taking a deep breath, he put the limp figure over his shoulder. “Open the portal I’m ready.” </p><p>Vega’s voice cracked, “Thank you.” The portal opened in a swirl of red. </p><p>The marauder stepped through the portal, the terrible jerking feeling of teleporting subsiding as he stepped out. The fortress of doom hummed with a red glow. The Slayer’s lair was powered by hell’s energy? He shoved the thought away. </p><p>“Please follow the path of lights to the infirmary. I will treat him there.” Vega lit up the hallway leading to the infirmary. </p><p>The marauder slowly followed, distrustful of everything around him. Daisy bounded ahead of him, screeching and willing the demon to walk faster. </p><p>Daisy rounded the corner and darted into the infirmary. The marauder picked up his pace, following Daisy inside. </p><p>“Please set him on the operating table.” Vega chimed as robotic arms around the table whirred to life. </p><p>The marauder nodded and slowly slid the man onto the table. The Slayer grunted softly as he was laid down. The arms on the side of the table began removing the armor on his whole left side. </p><p>Samuel spoke softly to Vega, trying not to make his presence known to the demonic guest. “How is he? I am a doctor I might be able to help.” </p><p>“No I can handle this. It just needs a few stitches. Try and talk Daisy and the marauder into leaving the infirmary. Perhaps they would like to eat?” Vega spoke only to Samuel. </p><p>Samuel silently agreed and spoke to the demons, “We can handle the Slayer please allow us to escort you to the kitchen.” </p><p>Vega’s processors whirred and the robotic arms cut the marauder’s haphazard stitches and began cleaning the wound again. Vega would take no risks of infection with the Slayer. The muscles of his arm were flayed wide open. The robotic arms gently cleaned out the wound at a breakneck pace. Checking not one or twice, but three time to verify it was completely sterilized. </p><p>The marauder shook his head, “We will stay and watch. As is tradition.” </p><p>Samuel’s interest piqued. He has always had a fascination with the denizens of hell. “What tradition may that be?” </p><p>“It’s disrespectful to leave an injured demon- err I suppose it applies to him as well.” The marauder gave a quick awkward motion towards the Slayer. In all honesty he was terrified to do anything. The Slayer was unpredictable. He had no idea if the Slayer followed any of hell’s traditions or not. He cleared his throat, “I wouldn’t want to disrespect the DoomSlayer.” </p><p>“Hmm... touché.” Samuel quit talking to them at turned his attention back to the man. Vega was already halfway done stitching him up. The wound looked significantly better now, much less bloody and gory. Samuel just noticed the oxygen mask fitted over the Slayer’s half pulled up helmet. “You put him under?” </p><p>“I assumed it would be the best course of action.” Vega and the Doctor talked about the wound and scientific stuff while the demons huddled around the man. </p><p>Neither one of them dared to touch him. Daisy chirred and looked up and the marauder. Concern was written all over the gargoyle’s face. </p><p>The marauder gave it a reassuring nod. The DoomSlayer couldn’t die. Hell the man was much too angry to die. </p><p>Daisy whined and tapped the man’s leg with its blade then, rested its head on the Slayer’s armored leg. It’s sensitive nose could still smell the stench of blood lingering on the man. It made Daisy anxious and it whined again, desperately willing the man to get up. </p><p>Vega finished up the last of the stitches. “Done I shall administer pain killers and a reversal to-“ </p><p>The Slayer jolted upright, kicking and flailing his limbs around. He ripped the oxygen mask off his face and threw it to the floor. There was a small tube running down his throat; with a shaking coughing fit he hacked it up. To say he was pissed was an understatement. This man was the embodiment of rage. </p><p>Daisy and the marauder jumped back from the man, desperate to put more distance between them and him. </p><p>One of the robot arms, under Vega’s control, poked him with a needle and injected something into him. He grabbed the arm and bent its joints backwards. Hopping off the table, he was intent on charging the marauder, but he flopped to the floor, skidding a face first for a few feet. </p><p>The marauder had his back against the wall and was terrified out of his damn mind, “well shit.” </p><p>Daisy ran up to the man, poking him to try and get him up again. </p><p>“Daisy I injected him with a powerful tranquilizer he will be sleeping for a whi-“ Vega was abruptly cut off by Daisy’s upset screeching. “Daisy we can’t-“ </p><p>“Screech” </p><p>“Daisy we-“ </p><p>“SCREEch” </p><p>“Daisy-“ </p><p>“SCREECH!” </p><p>The marauder once again picked up the man, bridal style, and placed him on the table. “How long will he be asleep?” </p><p>“A few hours. In that time I recommend both of you relax and eat.” Vega let out a sigh of relief. The Slayer would be ok everything was calm for now. </p><p>The marauder gave the ceiling a solemn nod and dragged Daisy away from the man. “Let’s eat.” </p><p>Daisy whined and led the way to the kitchen, hopping up on a chair and whimpering as it set its head on the table. </p><p>“He will be fine.” The marauder began opening cabinets trying to find anything remotely edible. This man was supposed to be a God. Where were the heavenly feasts? There were only some stale crackers and a can of bacon soup that expired 234 years ago. Jesus Christ. The marauder shook the can and opened it up. It looked ok-ish. Dumping it in two bowls, he gave some to Daisy and kept some for himself. The gargoyle woofed down its share and started nibbling the metal can. After the marauder finished his share up he threw the bowls in the sink. </p><p>Daisy curled up on the kitchen counter and fell asleep. The marauder shrugged and followed suit on the kitchen tabletop.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Slayer woke up. He was groggy and tired and didn’t remember much of what had happened. Just blood. Lots of blood. He looked around. He was in the infirmary lying on the operating table all stitched up. Poking at the stitches in his arm, he hissed in pain. Yep they were still very much raw and angry. </p><p>Vega heard the Slayer’s hiss of pain and softly chimed into the room with a mildly mocking tone, “Good morning sweet prince.” </p><p>The Slayer sleepily grunted at the ceiling and motioned to his stitched up arm. Then he yawned loudly as he stretched, his muscular arms shaking ever so slightly. </p><p>“Oh that. Yep you were attacked and we got you all stitched up. It wasn’t too terrible.” Vega’s voice had the slightest hint of anxiety to it. The Slayer and the Marauder in the same confined space? He thought back to when he used to monitor the UAC base and he watched footage of two male barons of hell fight. If he could shiver he would at the thought of the two brutes meeting. </p><p>The Slayer’s eyebrows raised when he heard Vega say ‘we.’ Then he noticed an empty tranquilizer dart in a metal pan. Slowly, he picked it up staring right into Vega’s speakers as he twirled it around in his fingers. His voice was far to hoarse and weak to speak so his glare would have to do. </p><p>Vega chuckled, “Yes you got a little... uhhh... fired up after surgery and I had to dart you.” </p><p>The Slayer wasn’t an idiot. He knew Vega was lying through his teeth. He jumped up from the table and impaled the speaker with the empty dart. Grabbing his armor off one of the tables, he clicked in into place yelping in pain as he felt a few stitches pop. He knew Vega was lying. Someone else was here. When he found them he was gonna-</p><p>“For fuck’s sake relax.” Samuel’s voice echoed through the fortress. </p><p>The Slayer, in a very surprising perhaps one in a life time event, listened to Samuel. </p><p>“Lie back down on the table let Vega fix your stitches that you popped and I’ll explain.” Samuel’s voice was surprisingly calming and the Slayer obeyed. Samuel was beyond surprised. The Slayer listening to him? What was the world coming to? He glanced out the window at the earth half destroyed by the forces of hell... oh yeah it was coming to that. </p><p>As he sat down the robot arms took his armor off again and began the process of stitching. </p><p>“So you were injured on Taras Nabad by a Cacodemon. Do you remember that?” </p><p>The man winced as Vega poked him with a needle and nodded. </p><p>Samuel explained what happened to him. He spoke slow and softly. Desperately trying to glaze over the parts where they allowed the Slayer’s unconscious body to be in a room with a demon that had tried to kill him repeatedly. He watched the man tense up for half a moment when he told him that the marauder was still in the fortress. Then desperately tried to glaze over it with compliments on his performance. </p><p>“All done! Be as gentle as you can do you don’t pop them again.” Vega’s robotic arms began cleaning the blood off the table and themselves as the man hopped off the table. He looked at the door and then up at the speaker still impaled with a dart. “They are in the kitchen please do not hurt him.” </p><p>The Slayer merely shrugged at the speaker and headed towards the kitchen. He slowly turned the corner and watched the sleeping figures for a few moments. Daisy was a ball of wings on the counter, slightly shifting as it breathed. The marauder was lying down on the kitchen table. </p><p>His head lolled to the side, horns softly clacking on the table. The Slayer watched his chest rise and fall, completely vulnerable... </p><p>He was shaking. After so many violent fights that left both of them gasping in agony as their wounds were stitched up, he was watching the marauder sleep. Should he wake him up? Kill him? The gleam of a kitchen knife caught his attention. He tried desperately to push it to the back of his mind. No he shouldn’t kill the demon... as much as he wanted to he promised Vega he wouldn’t. He grabbed the marauder’s shoulder and shook him. </p><p>Slowly the marauder opened his eyes and jerked back from the man, desperately trying to get off the table. The man held him firm and simply... </p><p> </p><p>patted the demon’s shoulder a few times. He let go and turned to scrounge through the cupboards. </p><p>The marauder sat up cautiously rubbing his shoulder and watching the man. Was that a friendly gesture? Did the DoomSlayer really never speak? Was he going to have to deal with weird, awkward physical gestures while he spent his time here? He supposed by the fact that his face wasn’t blown off by a shotgun by now meant that it was truthfully a friendly gesture. He hopped off the table and sat down in a chair, making sure never to turn his back on the man. </p><p>The Slayer grabbed some crackers out of the cupboard. These ones were not as stale as the others. He had been keeping them for a special occasion. This, he supposed, was special enough to break out his good cracker stash. He slid his helmet up to expose his mouth and sat down at the opposite end of the table from the demon. Company. The word sounded weird inside his head, let alone if he were to speak it. </p><p>The marauder watched the DoomSlayer, the bane of hell himself, sit down at the table and eat stale crackers while avoiding eye contact with the demon. He cleared his throat and spoke up, “Is that all you eat? Do you not have any better food around here? How do you not starve?” </p><p>The man paused for a second mid bite, shrugged, and continued eating. </p><p>“Do you not talk?” The marauder looked up at the ceiling, “VOICE IN THE CEILING DOES HE NOT TALK?”</p><p>Daisy jumped up from its sleep and screeched at its fellow demon for being so loud. </p><p>Vega chimed in, “Very rarely does he ever talk. If you have any questions I’ll try my best to answer them. My name is Vega.” </p><p>“Vega...” the marauder muttered for a moment. “I see. Is there any food here? How can he survive on such little sustenance?” </p><p>The Slayer looked up at he ceiling then slid a hand full of crackers across the table to the marauder. The demon picked one of them up, taking off his face covering and eating it. It tasted like... a cracker, a nasty stale cracker. </p><p>“Well...” Vega’s processors whirred as he ran through the ships data log. “I can print food for you if you wish. As for your second question he doesn’t require much food to survive.” Vega spoke in a scolding tone, “he should try and take care of himself better. Especially considering that he’s injured now.” </p><p>The marauder nodded and watched as the Slayer let out a annoyed grunt. The man finished the crackers up and rolled up the bag. Reaching up, he snapped the helmet back down into place. Glaring across that table at the demon, he motioned to his arm. Even through it was armored, it was obvious he was favoring it quite a bit. </p><p>“What?” The marauder titled his head. </p><p>The DoomSlayer spoke in a low raspy voice, the demon almost missed it, “W-why?” He motioned to his arm again. </p><p>“I’ve had the same question myself.” Vega chimed in. “What made you save him?” In a rather uncharacteristic moment Vega spat out, “It wasn’t from the kindness in your heart. So what’s your motive?” </p><p>The Slayer shot a glance up at the speakers. Samuel lightly chuckled. Vega could be a little kickass when he wanted to be. </p><p>“I’ve been biding my time waiting for eons to betray hell. The gargoyle you call Daisy,” he motioned to the it, “was my messenger. She helped me think of a plan to escape hell. I am forever grateful for her help.” </p><p>“So you’re using the Slayer’s image to escape the abuses of hell?” Samuel questioned. </p><p>“Yes.” The marauder nodded and poured the crackers he had been given out of his hand. They softly clinked on the table. </p><p>The Slayer nodded, accepting the marauder’s explanation. Now it made sense. Why Daisy grabbed the marauder toy. She was trying to tell him the marauder was on his side. </p><p>Daisy chirped happily and crawled onto the Slayer’s lap. She ran her mandibles over the man’s helmet in some attempt to groom him. The slayer hugged her and held her tightly, still making sure to look over the demons wings to keep an eye on the marauder. </p><p>“Is... is Daisy his pet?” The marauder looked up at the ceiling again. </p><p>“Yes. Is that an issue?” Vega noted the odd tone of voice from the demon. </p><p>“She used to be my pet...” the marauder awkward stared at the floor. Was he jealous? Yes. Daisy used to be his. Now she changed her name and abandoned him? “She was called Vox.” </p><p>Suddenly the Slayer was by his side and dumped a purring Daisy into the demons lap. Then, he pulled up a chair and sat by the marauder while petting the gargoyle. </p><p>“The Slayer will share with you. He’s a nice person.” If Vega could smile down at them he would be. The two brutes petting a little demon was the last thing Vega imagined happened, but the Slayer was a surprising person. </p><p>The Slayer took his hand off Daisy and drifted deep into thought. The marauder saved him knowing there was no chance to return to hell without being crucified as a traitor... yet he still did it. Of course he was thankful but it begged the question, is something else going on? He looked at the demon who was smiling happily down at Daisy. Huh... maybe he likes comics. The Slayer stood up abruptly and grabbed the demons hand, lacing his fingers into the demon’s and gently tugging him towards the doors. </p><p>The marauder helped Daisy onto his shoulders and let the slayer lead him. “Where are you taking me?” </p><p>The slayer simply grunted and squeezed his hand, leading him through the maze of the fortress. </p><p>Vega decided not to interrupt them and simply watched with curiosity. </p><p>Finally the Slayer led him to the door of his workshop. Escorting him inside like an overexcited puppy, he led him over to his bookshelf and took out a few comics. </p><p>After Daisy hopped off his shoulder to play with the toys, the marauder sat down on the floor while the slayer watched him from his big reading chair. “Whoa... these are cool.” The demon gently caressed the bright colorful covers, amazed at the art. “How did you get these?” </p><p>The slayer shrugged and motioned at the earth then, he hopped on the floor and started showing the marauder his favorite pictures within the comics. He pointed at an image of a skyline, tall buildings that sparkled with a metal sheen. With much enthusiasm, he showed the demon an image of the hero of the comic shooting a bad guy with a gun. The marauder chuckled and smiled at how excited the man was to show off his collection. He seemed much less terrifying now that he showed he still had some humanity left. The Slayer smiled up at the marauder and for a split second the demon could see the man’s eyes scrunched up through the thick glass of his helmet. </p><p>The marauder, in all his genius, blurted out, “You have eyes?” </p><p>The slayer paused for a second, extremely confused, and nodded. </p><p>“No!” The marauder chuckled, “I meant I saw your eyes. Through the glass and decided to say it out loud.” Luckily his face didn’t show a blush of embarrassment very well. “Heh sorry. That was weird.” </p><p>The Slayer shook his head and hugged the marauder. It was surprisingly gentle for someone who rips demons in half for a day job. The marauder could feel the man’s armor pressing on the bare skin of his back. </p><p>Neither one of them could remember the last time they had been touched let alone hugged. The word sounded foreign to their ears, but they both enjoyed it. </p><p>The slayer untangled his arms and looked down at the comic again, pointing at various action pictures. He would occasionally look up to make sure the demon was still interested. </p><p>The marauder was still having a high from getting a hug and decided to take a risk. Ever so gently, he reached out and wrapped his arm around the slayer’s shoulders. The man looked up at him and nodded his head with joy. But oh the fool was still on an absolute rush. He looked down at the comic spying a panel with the hero kissing someone and pointed to it.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Slayer stared down at it dumbfounded. Kiss? he looked from the panel to the demon a few times. The marauder wanted to kiss him? While his heart pounded, he nodded and slowly pulled up his helmet to reveal his mouth to the demon. </p><p>The marauder panicked a bit. He never thought the man would say yes. He pried off his face covering and pulled the slayer close to him. </p><p>They both waited for a few moments for the other to take the reins, but neither one of them knew how to kiss. Maybe in a past life they knew, but now? They were just staring at each other like two love struck idiots. </p><p>“Umm... do you wanna-“ the marauder was cut off the by the slayer mashing his lips against the marauder’s mouth. The demon was knocked flat on his back with the slayer straddling his chest, kissing him like it was the end of the world. </p><p>The demon kissed him back flicking his tongue inside the man’s mouth to make up for barely having lips to kiss. When the slayer realized he could use his tongue, he grinned like he just found a new weapon and put the skill to good use, swirling his tongue overtop of the marauder’s in a very rough loving gesture. It felt more like “defend the back of your mouth from the wrath of the tongue” than French kissing but hey the marauder wasn’t complaining. </p><p>The marauder chuckled at the enthusiasm of the man pinning him to the floor. He was rough but that wasn’t surprising, in fact, it was more of a trademark for him. The marauder was temped to nibble the man’s lip but was put off by the chance the slayer would get a little too excited and attempt to bite his lips off. He slowly pulled away from him, caressing the side of his helmet. </p><p>The slayer still looked hungry for more but didn’t lunge at him again. The just stared each other down not knowing what had just happened between them. The man carefully stood up, unpinning the marauder and allowing him to stand up at well. </p><p>“Chirrrrr?” </p><p>The slayer jumped backwards away from the noise and the marauder screamed in horror. Had Vega or Samuel seen them? Dear god they would- oh wait it’s just Daisy. </p><p>She titled her head at them, confused of why they were wrestling on the floor with their mouths. A new fighting technique perhaps? She did not know. Creeping over to the Slayer, she curled up at the base of the reading chair, clicking and chirping. </p><p>The marauder and the slayer let out a sigh of relief, looked at each other, started laughing. He sat down in the chair tapping his lap and motioning for the slayer to sit. </p><p>Perhaps it was the overwhelming amount of physical contact in one day, but the slayer thought for a moment then gave him an awkward wave and scurried off to his work bench to tinker with some armor, leaving the marauder to sit down in the reading chair. The demon picked up a comic and started flipping though it’s pages, catching a glimpse of the man out of corner of his eyes every now and then. </p><p>The marauder chuckled to himself, he overwhelmed the slayer. He never thought that day would come. Oh course, it definitely wasn’t the way the hell priests wanted him to, but this way way much more enjoyable for both parties. “Can I ask you some questions?” </p><p>The slayer nodded. </p><p>“Do you like music?” The marauder closed the comic and placed it on the bookshelf. </p><p>The slayer nodded enthusiastically and grabbed an album off his computer desk. He held it above his head, showing it to his new boyfriend. </p><p>The marauder read it out loud, “Doom official game soundtrack music by Mick Gordon.” </p><p>The Slayer did a little excited hop and turned, placing it back on the desk. </p><p>The demon watched him with a loving smile on his face. When he wasn’t trying to disembowel you the DoomSlayer was a pretty cute guy. “So when you aren’t filling demons with lead you hang out in this,” he waved his hand around, “fortress thing?” </p><p>He nodded again. </p><p>“And do you really only eat stale crackers?” The marauder rolled his eyes and sighed, “You should take care of yourself better.”</p><p>The slayer chuckled at the demon’s almost motherly tone and nodded his head. Maybe he would start taking care of himself better. For the marauder... well not because he liked him of course... well maybe he did a little bit. The Slayer closed his eyes, trying to shove away the odd emotions he was feeling. </p><p>“Is it true that you drink demon blood?” The marauder started to wonder how many of the myths of hell were true. </p><p>The Slayer looked up at him and shook his head then, continued to stare at him wondering where he would have heard something so ridiculous. </p><p>“Just an old imp tale to scare the little ones I guess.” He chucked. The idea of the slayer drinking demon blood did seem a little absurd now that he thought of it. “Is the fortress powered by hell’s energy? I was wondering about the red glow.” </p><p>The Slayer nodded. He’d have to show him the demonic crucible soon. Hopefully he wouldn’t try and take it. He worriedly glanced at the demon what if that was his plan? </p><p>“Huh cool. Do you ever speak since you got your... powers?” The marauder watched the man intently, hell bent on the answer. </p><p>He shook his head and sighed. The man had almost forgot the marauder was there at Taras Nabad when he got his powers and killed the titan. Of course he’d have questions. </p><p>“Oh ok... Wanna go grab something to eat-“</p><p>Vega chimed in, “SAMUEL IS BEING A JERK! HE’S BEEN ARGUING WITH ME FOR 45 MINUTES!” </p><p>The marauder and the Slayer sighed in relief. Vega nor Samuel would have seen them making out... probably. Oh course, Daisy has but she probably won’t tell anyone cause you know she can’t speak. </p><p>He sighed putting the armor he was working on down and motioned for the demons to follow him to the main area where Samuel was being kept. After a short walk, he stood in front of the torso of the robot with his arms crossed. </p><p>They were arguing about some stuff from back at the UAC. The marauder was flicking around a piece of paper on a desk trying to tune the two hysterically angry voices out. </p><p>“I didn’t program you to swear because I knew you couldn’t be trusted with it!” Samuel shouted at the AI</p><p>A heavily automated voice similar to a masculine Siri voice calmly said, “you bastard.” Then Vega’s voice chimed back in fuming, “HOW AND WHY WOULD YOU RESTRICT MY ACCESS TO WORDS? </p><p>The Slayer chuckled, Vega was using an automated dictionary to work around his inability to swear. </p><p>“Swear words. Vega you need to understand I didn’t think I could trust you.” </p><p>The calm automated voice chimed back in, “You bastard. You bastard.” </p><p>“YOU KNOW WHAT YOU CAN GO FUCK YOURSELF! YEAH YOU HEARD ME F-U-C-“ the slayer stood beside the force field that held the robot holding a unplugged cable. </p><p>The marauder howled in laughter, “You just unplugged him?” </p><p>The slayer nodded as he grabbed a battery charger and plugged it in place of the doctor. Finally, once they were done with Samuel shut up, Vega sent a bot up with some printed food. Mystery meat. Wait, was it even meat? It tasted extremely good so the marauder wasn’t complaining. </p><p>All three of them were sitting on the floor by the consoles munching loudly on the food. The Slayer and Marauder sat next to each other with Daisy at their feet begging for more food. In a rather sneaky move the marauder reached under his tray of food and gently touched the man’s hand. He looked over at him and watched his mouth quirk up in a smile. </p><p>The slayer looked back over at the demon. He wasn’t sure how he felt about them being together. If felt odd to be in such close quarters with a demon but the physical affection was something he desperately craved. He was willing to sin and cross his own boundaries for just a mere touch. He worried a great deal about what Vega would say. Samuel was an asshole so of course he would have something smart to say, but the slayer hoped Vega wouldn’t be too upset by it. </p><p>What if he was? Panic began rising in his chest, just beginning to overwhelm him. The marauder tugged on his shoulder armor and helped him off the floor. </p><p>“Let’s go back to your room,” he glanced at Vega’s speakers, “to... uhh look at the comics.” </p><p>The Slayer nodded, glad to be out of Vega’s main line of sight and they hightailed it back. As soon as the door shut behind them, the slayer whipped around. The marauder was fully convinced he was getting punched in the gut, but was greeted with a nice bone crushing hug from the man. The slayer rubbed his helmet on the demon chest, nuzzling deeper into the hug. He felt frantic, desperately trying to hold the demon close so he wouldn’t leave. </p><p>“Hey, what is it?” The marauder reached down and lifted the slayers face to met his eyes. The man’s sides shook for a second then shook again. The demon laid him down on the floor, “What’s happening?!” His sides shook again then, the demon understood. </p><p>The DoomSlayer was crying. </p><p>The man sat up and clutched onto the demon like he was a life line. His sides heaved erratically and he dug his armored fingers into the marauder’s skin. </p><p>The marauder completely ignored the pain, wanting to calm the slayer first, “Why are you crying?” </p><p>The Slayer whimpered it felt as if barbed wire was tightening around his throat. “W-w-worried...” </p><p>“Shhh... it’s gonna be ok. I got you.” He cradled the man’s body and rocked him gently, rubbing small circles on his back. He could feel the man relax under his touch. “No matter what you’re worrying about I’ll try to fix it.” </p><p>The slayer cries slowed to muffled whimpers as he allowed himself to melt under the demon’s touch. His eye lids drooped as he leaned his full weight on the marauder’s chest. He trusted the demon with everything he had. Thick strong arms pressed against him, holding him close and giving his a sense of security he hadn’t felt in a long time. He definitely loved the marauder. It took him a little bit of time but now he was sure. He edged up his helmet revealing his mouth once more. </p><p>The marauder grinned down at the man, “Are you sure you want to kiss? I don’t want to take advantage of you Mr. Slayer.” </p><p>He chuckled, tilting his head back laughing at his new favorite title “Mr. Slayer” then nodded. The man hungrily reached towards the demon’s face mask, taking it off with a ferocious passion. He straddled the demon’s lap and began pressing him backwards when he felt a hand on his chest stopping him. </p><p>“Shouldn’t I get a chance to be on top this time?” He grinned down at the man, quirking his brows up, gently shoving him to the ground. He laid across the man, gently stroking his face. He rubbed his thumb down the his lips gently parting them for a split second to see a glimmer of his teeth, then pressed his lips onto his for a kiss. </p><p>The slayer let out a muffled gasp, his hands running up the marauder’s body, desperately clinging onto his armor before settling on the demon’s horns. He was addicted to touch and love and kisses. It felt so beautiful and perfect he could barely fathom it, only hungrily grab for what seemed to be just out of his reach. His desire took over and he pulled the horns closer to him forcing the marauder to kiss him with more power. </p><p>After making out for a few minutes the slayer untangled his hands from the horns, gently letting them slip of of his grasp. The marauder sat up, still straddling the man and smiled down at him. He reached towards the man’s face and petted the blond hair that escaped his helmet. </p><p>“I love you dar-“ he was cut off by the metallic noise of a soup can bonking against the side of his head, “DAISY YOU FUCKER!” He whipped his head towards the gargoyle who was clicking with annoyance that they weren’t playing with her. He leapt off the Slayer and lunged for her. All the while screeching curse words that would make a sailor blush. </p><p>Daisy was overjoyed that he was paying attention to her once more and enjoyed this spontaneous game of “tag you’re it: the marauder is pissed off” edition. </p><p>While the two demons high tailed it after each other, the Slayer was sitting up howling in laughter. He felt a little guilty he neglected Daisy today and he promised to himself he wouldn’t do that again. He spread his arms wide and let Daisy sprint over and hug him. </p><p>The marauder stomped over close to losing his shit over Daisy ruining their moment, but when he looked down at the Slayer and Daisy snuggling, he realized the moment really wasn’t ruined. “Darling!” He cooed over the Slayer and snuggled beside him, giving Daisy a loving but pissed off glare. </p><p>The Slayer tilted his head back and relished in the companionship, hugging the two demons close.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Holy crap I love these two idiots. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I hope all of you enjoy it!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>https://imgur.com/a/S49fthF</p><p>Take a look at this amazing screenshot of the Marauder, the Slayer, and Daisy made by GavImp</p><p>I can’t thank you enough it looks AWESOME!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Slayer gasped and sat up. He was in his bed Daisy curled up on the foot of it and the Marauder sleeping on the floor. Oh yeah... they had gotten tired and fallen asleep. The man quietly slid out of bed and walked over to his arsenal. </p><p>He grabbed his trusty super shotgun, feeling along the long smooth wood grain. A shiver ran down his spine. While yes he should be resting his arm, he decided he was going out. He needed to. The lust for killing demons couldn’t be satisfied by mere touch. He turned to look over his shoulder at the sleeping figures before leaving. He hoped they wouldn’t mind him mercilessly killing their brothers and sisters. He quietly put his armor on and headed to the main room. </p><p>Vega could see the man’s intentions and silently powered up the portal. He watched as the man turned around and gave Vega’s speakers a nod and a wave before stepping back to Taras Nabad to finally retrieve his crucible, since last time his was forced to leave due to his injuries. </p><p>A while after he left the marauder stirred from his rest on the floor. He was fine with sleeping on the floor but he did envy Daisy’s prime real estate at the foot of the bed but she wasn’t there any more. </p><p>He flopped up on the bed hoping for some morning kisses from the Slayer. He could see a figure underneath the blankets. In one quick motion he yanked back the covers and went to kiss the Slayer, but instead was met with a mouthful of Daisy’s slimy metal mandibles. He spat and swore, wiping the goo out of his mouth. </p><p>Daisy barely registered it and whimpered loudly. </p><p>“What?” The marauder’s looked down and spotted the indent where the man had been sleeping. “Oh he left?” Well of course he left. He still had to cleanse the earth of demonic presence. </p><p>Daisy whined and nodded. She looked absolutely pathetic. </p><p>“Hey come on you wanna wait for him to come back?” He gently poked the demon’s wings. </p><p>Daisy perked up and nodded. In a flurry and wings and blades she was out of bed by the door. </p><p>“Ok. Ok. Let’s go.” The marauder opened the door and led Daisy to the main room. “Vega could you send us some breakfast?” He hopped up on a console, careful not to sit on anything that looked too important. </p><p>“Of course!” Vega chimed pleasantly down from the ceiling. “Also would you be willing to answer a few questions for me?” A bot hovered in with some apple sauce and a container of something called yogurt. </p><p>The marauder took the yogurt and nodded, “Sure what is it?” He opened the tinfoil lid, getting the substance on his thumb in the process. </p><p>“I have access to all the cameras in the fortress. Which allows me to see everything, unlike Samuel who can only see the happenings in this room unless I allow him access to other rooms.” </p><p>The marauder licked his thumb, cleaning the yogurt off of it. He froze and realized what Vega was saying, “Oh you saw us.” </p><p>“Yes.” </p><p>Daisy looked up from her apple sauce and made a chuckling noise at the marauder. </p><p>The marauder shot a glare at her and looked up at the ceiling, “So... uhh are you mad?” </p><p>“Of course not! The Slayer has never been happier.” Vega seemed excited. He had never seen the courtship of a human nor a demon up close. “If you want complete privacy,” he said with a suggestive voice, “I recommend the Slayer’s sleeping quarters or his bathroom. I very rarely access those areas to respect his privacy.” </p><p>The marauder chuckled nervously, he was glad Vega wasn’t mad but hot damn he felt awkward. “So you think he definitely likes me back?” </p><p>“Reading his vitals when he is with you reveals he is truly in love. Increased serotonin and dopamine productions and increased blood flow to his-“ </p><p>“OK I UNDERSTAND!” The marauder desperately tried to cleanse that... that... image from his mind. </p><p>“Oh sorry I suppose that’s private... apologies.” </p><p>“It’s fine.” The marauder rubbed his head and ate the rest of the yogurt. </p><p>Daisy nervously poking at the applesauce. “Chirrrr?” </p><p>“You eat it.” The marauder picked the cup up and grabbed a spoon. “Come here.” </p><p>Daisy leaped up on the console and gave the food a sniff. </p><p>The marauder scooped some up in the spoon and held it out to her. “Eat.” </p><p>She very gently nibbled the apple sauce and, after waiting for a few moments and deciding she liked it, gobbled down the rest of it right out of the cup in the marauder’s hand. </p><p>“See it was good.” The marauder gently patted her head and turned to look at the portal. The Slayer probably hadn’t been gone for even and hour and he already didn’t know what to do with himself. </p><p>Vega chimed down from the ceiling, “Do you miss him?” </p><p>“Yeah.” He looked up at the speakers, “What do you do when he’s gone?” </p><p>“Most of the time I just talk to Dr. Samuel Hayden. If you would like to plug him back in while the Slayer is gone you can.” </p><p>He stood up and unplugged the batteries then, he grabbed the robot’s cord and plugged him back in. </p><p>In a couple seconds he was hooked back up to the system. His blue light flashed on again but he didn’t speak. </p><p>“Are you upset at us still?” He marauder reached towards the chassis of the robot. The force field flashed, zapping him and sending him recoiling back. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.</p><p>He was only met with one gruff, “Sorry Vega,” from the ceiling.</p><p>Vega chimed, “Apology accepted.” </p><p>The marauder stuck his toasted finger in his mouth. “Damn forcefields suck ass.” </p><p>Samuel chuckled as he watched the demon. “Vega?” </p><p>“What is it, sir?” The Slayer didn’t like when Vega used any respectful terms when it came to speaking about Samuel. Now that the Slayer wasn’t here he would use some proper terms. Samuel did create him after all. </p><p>“I have access to the ship’s audio logs.” </p><p>“Yes, and?” Vega was genuinely confused did he just notice that now? </p><p>“Well... ahem... going forwards I would like to be respectful about this situation as I can.” </p><p>“What the hell are you talking a-“ </p><p>“DOOMSLAYER AND THE MARAUDER SITTING IN A TREE! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! FIRST COMES LOVE, SECOND COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COMES A BABY IN A BABY CARRIAGE!” by the end he had broken down into fits of maniacal laughter. He wheezed, “GET IT?” Most of the time he was a serious person but that mocking song from his childhood would always have a special place in the cold dark pit where his heart should be. </p><p>The marauder didn’t blush easily dude to his odd, undead skin tone, but now he was as red as a tomato. </p><p>“Now that your daily act of assholeiery is out of you system are you better now?” Vega said in a flat tone. </p><p>Samuel, who was feeling as smug as he’d ever felt, nodded, “Indeed.” It brought him such a great joy to make the marauder uncomfortable and cause chaos. </p><p>“I-I... I though you were o-offline or something!” The marauder looked away from the robot in a desperate attempt to hide him blush, but let’s face it that’s not happening. </p><p>“Offline but still connected to the fortress!” He was still cackling. “Anyways, did you seriously plug me back in because you were bored?”</p><p>“Yup.” Vega answered. </p><p>“Aww you really do like me.” Samuel’s voice couldn’t sound any smugger. </p><p>Vega sighed, “The Slayer should be back soon. Would Daisy want to play with some toys?” </p><p>Daisy perked up and started chirping and chattering up a storm at the ceiling. </p><p>A bot came hovering up from the storage rooms way down in the bottom of the fortress with a blue plastic ball. The marauder grabbed it and squished it in his hand. It sprung back to its original shape with a loud squeak. Both demons jumped at the noise. The marauder squeaked it again and stood up. “It’s a squeaky toy.” </p><p>Daisy went absolutely ballistic, jumping up and screeching. The squeak had activated some predator instinct within her gargoyle core. “SCREEEEEEEE!” </p><p>The marauder winded up and launched the ball down one of the hallways, sending Daisy careening after it. She was a ball of wings and blades as she sprinted after the ball, catching it and sprinting back with it in her mouth. She smashed into the marauder and sent him hurtling backwards, thrusting the slobbery ball in his face to get him to throw it again. </p><p>“Daisy get OFF!” He pried the demon off him and picked up the ball. He slowly stood up, dusting himself off, “Good lord.” </p><p>Daisy, after realizing you can’t smash into people, chirped guiltily. </p><p>“It’s fine. Just don’t do it again.” When he wound up to throw the ball it slipped out of his hands and flew backwards. </p><p>“Clang.” </p><p>He spun around and laid eyes upon the Slayer who had just walked through the portal. He was covered in blood and deep red chunks of gore. The smell of blood overpowered both demons. Daisy skidded to a stop, shaking in terror as she started up at the man. </p><p>The Slayer didn’t even notice them he simply tread past them. His steps were slow and methodically. It was obviously the man was tired and aching, but miraculously completely unharmed. Even though his body drooped in exhaustion, his head was held high and in his grasp was the crucible at long last. </p><p>He tightened his grip upon the weapon and disappeared into the halls of the fortress. Neither demon followed to them this was something holy to even bare witness. He was a true cleanser of hell and this struck fear into their very hearts. Of course, he wouldn’t harm them since they brought him no harm or ill will. </p><p>Daisy scurried under the consoles and nervously chirped ever so softly. Her wings pressed against her sides tightly and she folded her head under them. </p><p>The marauder on the other hand had a sudden urge to follow the Slayer. He took one cautious step towards the hallway he walked down and glanced up at a speaker for guidance. </p><p>Vega spoke softly to only the demon, “Go, he’ll enjoy the company.”</p><p>In a breathless voice the marauder nodded, “Ok...” He walked down the hall, following the drips of blood that were being wiped up by a small army of cleaning robots. Every footstep he took seemed to echo in an ungodly loud volume. After treading carefully, he stood in front of the door to the man’s workshop. The door, sensing his presence, opened with a clang loud enough to wake the undead. </p><p>The marauder almost fainted on the spot the man surely knew he was there by now. He slipped inside, still following the blood trail, and looked at some of his broken armor laid out on the workbench. It seemed his breast plate had taken a beating this time. The marauder gently picked it up, wiping the blood off of it and examined the damage. Nothing a little hammering couldn’t fix up. He looked down at the blood trail and followed it into the slayer’s bedroom. </p><p>The door opened with the slightest creak. It had always been well hidden in the wall. He supposed that helped protect a sleeping Slayer if the base would get attacked. It was one of the first things Slayer had shown him... perhaps the man really did trust him. </p><p>He shuffled inside, looking around the room. It was utilitarian and beyond bland. A bed and nightstand was all that decorated the room. Really the only thing the room had to offer was an attached bathroom. His eyes were drawn to the pile of bloody armor haphazardly tossed in a pile on the middle of the floor. A few bloody foot prints led into the bathroom door. </p><p>“It would be rude to go in there...” the marauder stared at the door, desperate to see the Slayer. </p><p>“He requested for you to come it.” Vega chimed softly from the ceiling. </p><p>“Really?” The marauder glanced up at the speaker before continuing to stare at the door. “He wants me?” </p><p>“Yes.” Vega immediately disconnected from both the bedroom and the bathroom to give them some privacy. </p><p>The marauder edged the door open and stepped inside. He was immediately met with a jet of water soaking his face. He leapt back in terror until he realized the source was the Slayer, still adorned with his helmet, holding a small plastic water gun lounging in a bathtub. The man was howling in laughter, “g-got...cha.” He struggled to make out the words. </p><p>The marauder grabbed a towel from the counter of the sink and wiped his face off. “You scared me, asshole.” He smiled and glanced at the Slayer, blessed by the fact that it was a bubble bath so he couldn’t see... ya know... </p><p>The slayer dipped the plastic gun into the water, refilling it. He then pointed it at the demon, threateningly waving it around. </p><p>“Don’t.” The marauder grabbed the towel and held it up as a shield, peeking over the top of it. </p><p>The man cackled and aimed the gun. </p><p>“Don’t yOu DAre!” The marauder ducked behind the towel and felt a splash against the fabric. He stuck he head up to mock he hadn’t gotten wet. When he was met with a jet of water to his forehead. </p><p>The Slayer was absolutely howling in laughter. His sides shook the bubbles in the tub. His armored head leaned back and clinked against the tub. </p><p>The marauder wiped his face off and walked over to the tub. Flopping down with his back turned to it, he leaned his head back too, relaxing in the presence of the Slayer. </p><p>The man reached up and started slowly scratching the demon’s horns. The marauder leaned into the touch. “I love you.” </p><p>The Slayer nodded and grunted back a confirmation too afraid to attempt to speak again. He poked the back of the demon’s neck and splashed in the bath, making a paddling motion. </p><p>“What are you trying to say?” The marauder glanced over his shoulder, confused at the strange action. Water was rare in hell and baths were even rarer. Most of the time he just wiped the heaviest gore off himself with a moist rag. He had heard legends... no mere rumors about an activity called... swimming.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So I got some sad news. This story will be updating once every two weeks not every week from now on. </p><p>I just got my learners permit and I’m learning to drive. My whole day is spent driving and my whole night is spent looking for a used car for sale. </p><p>Also I’ve been working on opening an art shop so tons of work to do there as well. </p><p>It sucks but trust me this fic will continue. I am still really invested and I can’t wait to see what fluff happens next. So it’s not the end but I do feel bad about making all you wonderful people wait twice as long for a chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After the marauder left the bathroom and the Slayer finished bathing, he led the demon to a part of the fortress he had never seen before. It was a large room with a rectangular pool in the center of it. Everything was made from thick smooth stone and metal with seams that fitted together almost perfectly. </p><p>The marauder was amazed at the pool he had never seen so much clear water. A strange sent lingered in the air. His eyes began to water, and he held his hand up to his face, slightly afraid to breathe it in. </p><p>The slayer tilted his head at the demon’s odd behavior and pointed up to Vega’s speakers, who immediately chimed in, “You’re smelling chlorine. Don’t worry it’s mostly harmless.” </p><p>“Oh... ok...” The marauder removed his hand from his face and glanced down fearfully at the water. “So, how do you swim?” </p><p>The Slayer just chuckled, fished a two pairs of swim trunks out of a storage container, and threw a pair at the demon. </p><p>In one fluid motion he caught them, carefully holding the swim trunks in his hands. The thin fabric was much unlike his traditional heavy duty armor plating. </p><p>Vega chimed down once more, “There is a door to your right you can get dressed in there.” The marauder nodded and headed inside, quickly changing out of his armor and into the swim trunks. The fabric had an odd feeling to it and was a green similar to his own armor. He felt slightly exposed without armor and only thin fabric to protect him. It was a little bit too tight around his thighs due to the size difference between himself and the Slayer.  </p><p>He stepped out side and looked around. The slayer wasn’t anywhere to be found. “Hey?” He walked over to te edge of the pool and peered down into the water, worried that his beloved might have fallen into the mysterious liquid, “Where did you go?” He heard the sound of sprinting footsteps behind him but before he could turn to look two strong, muscular hands were shoving him into the water. </p><p>Thank god the water was heated and not terribly cold. After a giant impromptu jump in the pool, He cursed and twisted around, grabbing the Slayer’s legs and dragging him down into the water. “You bastard!” </p><p>Vega chuckled, “I tried to talk him out of it.” </p><p>The Slayer nodded happily and kicked up his feet so he was floating on his back. He had his helmet on, of course, and green swim trunks just like the marauder’s. They were just a few sizes smaller. </p><p>He immediately attempted to float on his back as well but sank as soon as his feet weren’t on the bottom. Swimming wasn’t even something that occurred to him. He had vague flickering memories from his time as a sentinel swimming in the creeks in the valleys around Taras Nabad. </p><p>Daisy stuck her head around the corner and cautiously approached the Slayer. The smell of blood no longer lingered in the air around him, like an omen of death, and she calmed down. </p><p>The marauder gently splashed the surface of the water with his hands, “Come here Daisy!” </p><p>Daisy poked the water with a blade and immediately recoiled. She whined and walked around the pool trying to find a way to get to them without getting herself wet. The Slayer swam over to the side and began petting her head. She clicked and chirred in fear. </p><p>The marauder swam over to Daisy, gently brushing against the Slayer muscular arm and savoring every second of it, “Daisy come on in the water won’t hurt you.” </p><p>Daisy shook her head and turned to trot away from them. The Slayer and The marauder glanced at each other, nodded, and grabbed Daisy’s back legs. </p><p>Daisy let out a blood curdling screech and frantically scratched at the stone in an attempt to escape the two muscular beefcakes. The smooth floor betrayed her and she was dragged into the water. </p><p>She paddled with her wings and latched onto the Slayer, whimpering and shaking. Water was scary. </p><p>The man gently shushed her whimpering and petted her head. It took a few seconds but she calmed down fast in the presence of the Slayer. Under his helmet, he smiled at the demon. </p><p>“Put her in the water and make her swim to me.” The marauder pushed off the bottom and paddled to the other side of the pool. </p><p>He nodded and slowly pried Daisy off on him and set her down into the water. She paddled, kept her head above water, and whimpered loudly. She struggled and swam all the way over to the marauder, latching onto him and crying desperately. </p><p>“Ok, ok, we won’t make you swim anymore.” The marauder cradled Daisy and gently set her down on the side of the pool. “There you go.” </p><p>She shook off and sat by the side of the pool watching them, poised and ready to leap in if the water dared to attack them. </p><p>The Slayer glided gracefully over to the demon. His skill in the water dwarfed the marauder’s. He wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and hugged him tight. </p><p>The marauder returned the gesture and began rubbing circles into the muscles on the man’s back. “Swimming is fun, just a little bit scary.” </p><p>The Slayer nodded and let go of the demon. He motioned for him to go underwater and sunk below the surface.</p><p>The marauder complied, keeping his eyes open, he looked around under the water. The Slayer waved at him and he waved back. Light lazily drifted down through the water and danced over them. </p><p>They both leapt back up to the surface. The marauder closed the distance between them and grabbed the Slayer. He swept the man’s feet out from underneath him and cradled him again his chest. </p><p>The Slayer shifted, leaning his head back and letting out a contented sigh. He reached up and ran his fingers along the demon’s neck and collar bone. </p><p>As the Hellwalker’s fingers ran over his jugular he shivered ever so slightly. In an instant he could be killed by the man with barely any effort. He was lucky he appeased the DoomSlayer. “Do you like this?” He gently caressed the man’s helmet. </p><p>The Slayer nodded and sighed again ever so quietly. The marauder honestly almost missed it but his sensitive ears picked up on it. He took his face covering off and slid the Slayer’s helmet up. “Oh you really do like it.” He chuckled and felt the Slayer try and squirm up to get to his lips. “Shh I’ll take care of you.” He was toying with the man a little bit. It was probably best to go slow anyways. Generally, when the Slayer gets ahead of himself violence happens. He slowly leaned down and kissed the man, “I love you.” </p><p>The Slayer nodded back, grinning from ear to ear. After retrieving his crucible and satisfying his blood lust by inverting demon’s skulls and stabbing them with their own forearms, he always felt at peace, but now with his, dare he say it, boyfriend and pet, he felt complete and utter peace. Of course he’d have to go fight the armies of hell once more, but right now he was swimming and relaxing and it felt beautiful. </p><p>Daisy bunched up her muscles and leaped on the two lovers. Perching on the marauder’s horns, she let out a victory screech. He clipped his face mask back into place, dropped the slayer, and fell backwards into the water. Daisy screeched and let go, leaping up in the air and gliding over to the Slayer who was now charging the marauder cause he had gotten dunked instead of kisses, a betrayal of the highest order. </p><p>As soon as the marauder surfaced the slayer grabbed him and sent him flying over his shoulder. With a massive splash the demon hit the water cursing. Daisy screeched and scrambled on top of the Slayer’s head. </p><p>Vega started blasting heavy metal music from the speakers and gave Samuel access to the room so he could watch the absolute chaos that was unfolding. </p><p>The marauder rose up from the water and charged at the Slayer. They grappled each other and began play wrestling. Daisy leaped from head to head batting at their faces. Water splashed everywhere as their fighting intensified. They were two titans, equally matched in the ways of combat, but the Slayer was much more familiar with water and used that to his advantage, mercilessly kicking the marauder’s legs out and pinning him to the wall. </p><p>He struggled with all his might, grunting and trying to pry himself off the wall. The Slayer held him tight. Hell, there wouldn’t be much of a difference between the man’s grip or if his back had been superglued to the wall. The Slayer was strong, ridiculously strong. “Ok! Ok! Let gooo!” He wiggled more. </p><p>The man relaxed his grip and let the marauder twist away from him. Daisy chirped happily and leaped onto the marauder’s head. </p><p>“You three are a menace to society.” Samuel sighed. </p><p>Daisy chirped up at Samuel’s voice. </p><p>“YOU TOO YOU LITTLE WAFFLE RAT!” He sighed even louder. </p><p>The Slayer waved his hand at the speaker, shushing it. He lifted himself out of the pool and walked over to a storage container, opening it up and taking out three inner tubes.</p><p>He tossed them into the pool and the marauder cautiously grabbed one. Daisy poked it from her safe perch on his head. “Is this some sort of... cushion for water?” </p><p>“It’s an inner tube. Humans use them to float and relax in water.” Samuel explained. His voice took on a quieter wistful tone, “I haven’t seen one since I was a child. I remember I used to play with them at my grandmas pool...” He snapped out of it, “of course that was decades ago.”</p><p>The marauder gently squeezed the plastic material, “I wish to partake in this ritual then. What do I do?” </p><p>At that moment the Slayer hopped back into the water and into the inner tube. He hauled himself up, sticking his legs and head out over the side, with only his backside still in the water. </p><p>“Oh I see...” the marauder attempted to float but instead flipped over backwards and fell off. Daisy screeched and perched on her own tube. He rose up from the water determined to conquer the pool float. After a solid five minutes of struggling, he finally flopped into the tube with a loud sigh. </p><p>Daisy was already sleeping and the Slayer was nodding off. When his helmet bumped against the squishy plastic material of the tube it sent a little ripple through the water. </p><p>The marauder had never seen anything so peaceful. He shifted his shoulders and laid back. </p><p>Vega chimed down softly, “Activating interior sun lamps.” </p><p>The room lit up with bright warm heat lamps radiating warmth down onto them. The Slayer moaned and stretched out to catch as many rays as he could. Daisy started purring and opened her wings. The marauder just closed his eyes. He hadn’t felt pure sunlight like this since he had been a sentinel. It took him back to his past days. Nostalgia led him down a winding road of memories. Some of them sad, some happy. A single tear ran down his face. What had he become? </p><p>Sometimes, he felt like a monster, a true demon with no humanity left, but being around the Slayer made him feel better and much more human. He wiped the tear off his face, sighing loudly. </p><p>The Slayer could see the demon was upset and paddled over to him, scratching the bases of his large horns. He was pretty sure the marauder enjoyed that. Of course, he could be wrong though, considering he had the same amount of social skills as a piece of linoleum flooring. </p><p>He chuckled and twisted his head into the touch. Horn scratches were the absolute best in his opinion and the Slayer was a master at dealing them out. His leg twitched ever so slightly like a dog getting its belly scratched. </p><p>The Slayer tried to roll onto his raft but instead flopped into the water with a splash. He burst up from the water grunting in anger.</p><p>“Aww don’t be upset darling.” The marauder reached out and grabbed the Slayer pulling him onto the raft on his lap. The Slayer laid on his left side with his head tucked under the marauder’s chin. It just dawned on the demon how much smaller the man was. The marauder probably had a good two feet, including his horns, on him. He smiled at the cool feeling radiating out from his small boyfriend. </p><p>The Slayer snuggled down into his lap and enjoyed they feeling of his left side touching the bare skin of the marauder chest. It felt scandalous but it was warm so he wasn’t complaining. The demon wrapped his hands around the Slayer’s waist and rubbed his hip gently. </p><p>Daisy began chirping and paddled over to them, trying to hop up and snuggle. </p><p>The marauder gently shook his head, “Daisy, no.” </p><p>Daisy brought down her wing and bonked the marauder’s forehead. </p><p>“BAD DAISY!” He hugged the Slayer closer to him as he swatted her away. </p><p>She ignored the marauder and hopped on their raft, flipping them over. </p><p>“DAISY-“ he was cut off as he went underwater by a mouthful of water. His head automatically jerked itself out of the water and his hands flew out and gripped the edge of the pool. He began coughing and wheezing; his sides shook violently. </p><p>The Slayer rushed over to him, patting his shoulder. He began panicking and shook the demon in a desperate attempt help him. </p><p>The marauder shook his head and coughed up some of the water. His voice was rough and raw, “No I’m fine. I just didn’t expect that!” He chuckled and gave the Slayer a little hug. He instantly felt tired and a little bit stressed. What if he hadn’t coughed up the water? His own mortality began catching up with him. </p><p>The Slayer grabbed his hand and helped him get out of the pool. He felt incredibly guilty the marauder had a bad experience with the water. </p><p>Daisy crept along behind them hanging her head feeling guilty as well. The marauder turned and looked back at the whimpering demon. </p><p>“Hey it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t mean to.” He let go of the Slayer’s hand and crouched down. “Come here Daisy. I’m not mad.” </p><p>Daisy whined and took a few steps closer. If she had done that to a demon of a higher rank than her in hell... She whined louder and took a few more cautious steps closer. </p><p>He reached out and gently petted her head. “Good Daisy.” </p><p>The Slayer watched them make up and was quite pleased. His boyfriend’s nurturing side made him happy. A rare smile crept across his face. </p><p>Daisy yawned and crawled up on the marauder’s shoulders. The swimming and paddling had tired out both demons. </p><p>The marauder yawned as well, “Can we go to sleep now?” He looked up at the Slayer with puppy dog eyes. </p><p>He nodded and helped him up, escorting them thought the maze of a fortress and back to his room. He grabbed some dry, fluffy pyjamas out of a dresser and tossed them at the demon. He grabbed his own pair of pyjamas and went in the bathroom. </p><p>He stripped out of his wet bathing suit that was plastered to his skin. Grabbing a towel, he dried off and slipped into the pyjamas. They were his fluffy rabbit ones Vega had found for him. He smiled and breathed in the scent of the fabric as he put on the matching slippers. </p><p>He was in a much better place now then when he first put them on. A grin crossed his face. He was getting better slowly but surely. </p><p>He didn’t dare say it, even think it. The thought was so absurd he shoved it to the back of his mind, refusing to even consider it. He was a God, he knew he was, but... </p><p>he almost felt human again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I’m so excited for you wonderful people to read the next chapter of this. The fluff levels in it are off the freaking charts. </p><p>I’ll be updating two weeks from now on September the 18th. Can’t wait to see you then!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He opened up the bathroom door and flopped down in bed. The marauder stood awkwardly by the foot of the bed wearing the grey utilitarian pyjamas the Slayer had tossed him. </p><p>He fiddled with the collar of the t-shirt and the hem of the shorts. “Would... I could...” he fumbled over his words and shifted nervously before finally blurting out, “Bed!” and pointing at the Slayer. </p><p>The man just stared at him, dead silent and severely confused. He began wondering if the demon wanted him to magically transform into a bed. Shrugging, he glanced from him to the bed a few times. </p><p>The marauder covered his face with his hands in embarrassment, “Oh dear god... I wanted to ask you...” the marauder took his hands off his face, “Maybe I could sleep in bed with you instead of on the floor, if that’s ok.” He stood, stiff as a statue in the halls of Taras Nabad, and tried desperately to avoid eye contact. </p><p>The Slayer looked around at how big the bed was. It was a large bed for one person, but it would definitely be cramped for two. He didn’t mind though, and scooted over, patting the marauder’s side of the bed.  </p><p>The marauder grinned and scooted under the covers. It was insanely cramped but cozier than the floor. </p><p>Daisy hopped and curled up on the foot of the bed, chirping softly and immediately falling asleep. </p><p>The Slayer reached over and shut off the light on his nightstand. Him and the marauder were shoulder to shoulder and were both half hanging off the bed. </p><p>The marauder went to speak but was cut off by the Slayer grabbing his waist and flipping him on his side. At first he was confused but realized the Slayer was spooning him. Well, trying to spoon at least. Being two feet shorter made him more of a jet pack than a spoon. </p><p>The marauder rolled over and fought off the Slayer’s attempts to get him to be the little spoon, forcing the man into submission by tickling the skin right where his neck met his helmet. </p><p>The Slayer jolted back trying to escape the tickles and was caught off guard by the marauder flipping him on his side and spooning him. The great DoomSlayer was defeated by his enemy... and forced to be the little spoon. He pouted for a second then soon found himself enjoying it. He tried to wiggle free and once again take his title of the big spoon. </p><p>The marauder had anticipated such a counter attack and quickly wrapped his legs around the Slayer’s waist. He hummed triumphantly with joy and tightened his grip. Leaning down to the side of the Slayer helmet, he began whispering. “I got you now darling. This is nice, isn’t it?”</p><p>The Slayer relaxed and nodded his head. He gasped in surprise as the marauder quickly wrapped his hands around his chest, running his hands over the man’s abs. </p><p>Closing his eyes, the marauder sighed loudly and ran his hands over every ridge and valley of his chest. The fluffy fabric contrasted with the rock hard muscles below it. </p><p>The man reached up and held the demons hands, calming them from their frenzied touching spree over his chest. He relaxed and dug his helmeted head into the pillow. Being the little spoon wasn’t something he excepted to enjoy, but now he was loving it. He scooted into the demon’s touch pressing his back firmly against his chest. </p><p>The marauder hugged the Slayer towards him tighter, desperate for the touch the man offered. Carefully he placed his head on top of the Slayer’s helmet, using him as his own personal chin warmer. He chuckled to himself, oh the benefits of being the big spoon.</p><p>The Slayer listened to the rhythm of the marauder’s breath, the little whistle of his nose as he breathed, the way his muscles relaxed... and he was intoxicated by it, addicted to the demon that lay beside him. For he was positive his heart and will would break if he had to sleep alone again. He struggled against sleep, but his eyelids betrayed him and he slowly drifted off. </p><p>The demon lifted up his head for a second, careful not to poke anything with his horns, and glanced down at Daisy who was fast asleep. Then, he lovingly glanced down at the Slayer. His lover lay in peace and serenity, cradled in his arms. The man was snoring ever so softly, his helmet amplifying the noise just enough for the marauder to hear his adorable little snores. He laid his head back down and chuckled, even the Slayer’s snores were so small and tiny compared to the hulk of a man they came from. </p><p>The lull of sleep slowly started to take him over. Occasionally, he would jolt his eyes open, waking up from a half sleep just to fall right back into it.He tried his best to fight it, but soon succumbed to slumber beside his beloved. </p><p>After a long night of restful sleep, Daisy woke up, yawned, and stretched. The room was still dark. Only a thin beam of red light in the ceiling gave any light. She leaped over the two spooning figures and landed on the head board. Crouching down in a traditional gargoyle fashion, she peered into their still-sleeping faces. </p><p>The marauder woke up a few minutes later, groggy and only half awake. He lifted his head up and looked around the room. Glancing at Daisy, he jolted away from her monstrous face, “Dammit go get breakfast, leave me alone.” </p><p>Daisy bolted out of the room, presumably on a b-line to the kitchen. The pitter patter of her feet filled the hallways with noise. </p><p>The marauder listened for a few moments before putting his head back down and yawning. He felt the Slayer stir within his grasp. “Mhhm, you up?” </p><p>The Slayer just grumbled some unintelligible words and grunted. His trigger finger twitched in his sleep and his arm jerked. </p><p>He chuckled, “Aww you’re hunting demons. Sleepy Slayer.” Being as gentle as he could muster, the marauder poked the man’s shoulder. “You wanna wake up?” </p><p>After a long pause, the man nodded and stretched, his arms and legs shaking slightly. He rubbed his bottom and back against the marauder in a halfhearted attempt to fall back asleep. Most of the time he woke up at dawn, his tight military schedule sticking with him all these years, but now he had slept in god knows how late. He had never gotten such a relaxed sleep. He never felt as at peace as he did last night. </p><p>The marauder finally let his precious little spoon go then he grabbed the man again and dragged him to the middle of the bed. He quickly straddled his lover’s chest and caressed the side of his helmet. </p><p>The Slayer reached up and lifted up on his helmet. Then, he grabbed the demon’s horns and pulled the marauder’s head closer. Every movement he made was sloppy and lazy. He craved kisses and didn’t care that he had just woken up. </p><p>The marauder opened his mouth and let his long, very talented tongue draw some of the Slayer’s attention. It was his BFG, his weapon of choice against the Hellwalker himself. He pried the Slayer’s hands off his horns and pressing them down with his own, firmly grabbing them at the wrist and pinning them above the man’s head. He leaned down and felt his tongue slip inside the man’s mouth. </p><p>And in that moment a bot, piloted by Vega, opened the door as it carried a tray of muffins and other breakfast food. “I got muff-“ The bot froze in place, hovering slightly as it’s LED’s stared into their souls. </p><p>Everyone froze, no one even breathed. </p><p>The marauder, ripping away from his lover, looked down at the Slayer in his very compromising position, then to the bot, then back down to the Slayer, “Vega this isn’t-“ </p><p>He was interrupted by the bot shutting off, falling to the floor, and the distant screams of Vega in the fortress, “DR. SAMUEL WHY DID YOU GIVE ME THE ABILITY TO SEE?” </p><p>“What the heck are you talking about?” Samuel sounded bored. </p><p>There was distance murmuring, Vega explaining what he saw, presumably. </p><p>“HOLY SHIT!” Samuel immediately was crippled by laughter that echoed through the whole fortress. “Well did you get the muffins back at least?” </p><p>Breaking out of his frozen daze, the marauder glanced at the pile of muffins on the floor. </p><p>Vega sounded hysterical, “NOOO!” </p><p>The Slayer wiggled out from underneath the marauder, their make out session obviously canceled. He wasn’t angry. He just felt a little guilty that Vega was upset. </p><p>Vega chimed into their room, “I’m so sorry sirs I should have knocked. Apologies.” </p><p>The marauder chuckled, “Vega it’s fine. We weren’t... having... we were just kissing.” His face was beat red by the end of his explanation, “W-well... g-going to.” </p><p>Samuel was absolutely howling with laughter. It almost sounded animalistic. “You walked in on them! YOU EVEN DROPPED THE MUFFINS!” </p><p>The Slayer was sitting on the side of the bed trying not to show his red blush. Well this has been a complete mess... </p><p>The marauder on the other hand decided fuck it, shoved the Slayer over, and kissed him. After a few seconds, he pulled back. </p><p>Samuel huffed and shut up. Finally, the two lovers had built up some resistance to his teasing. He’d have to find some other way to have fun...</p><p>Vega made an excited noise, his processors whirring. Their courtship was fascinating he wondered if- OH lord he was invading their privacy. He disconnected from their room immediately. </p><p>The marauder sighed and helped the Slayer out of bed. He felt bummed out. One make out session was all he wanted. </p><p>The Slayer patted the demon’s shoulder. He cleared his throat and attempted to speak. It was slow and shaky but the marauder could tell he was trying his absolute best, “B-b-bre... a-ak... f-f-fast?” </p><p>He grinned and nodded, “Sure! I guess we could get Vega to print something or maybe find something in the cupboards.” </p><p>As the marauder rambled on about food the Slayer watched his mouth move. He used to be able to speak like that. In some ways he missed it. He thought over his pathetic attempt at saying breakfast. It made his skin crawl. He was better than that. It was like a switch had been flicked and suddenly he wanted to be alone. He abruptly walked out of the bedroom and grabbed some tools on his workbench to fix up his armor. </p><p>The marauder stopped mid sentence and watched the man just simply walk away. Tears began to well up in his eyes. What the hell was that? Did his lover just leave him mid sentence? Grabbing a muffin off the floor, he angrily bit into it. </p><p>Daisy sprinted back into the room chirping and screeching. She dove on the pile of muffins and began gobbling them down as fast as her mouth would allow it. She froze when she realized the marauder was upset. Licking the muffin crumbs off her mandibles, she hopped up in the bed. </p><p>The marauder flopped down beside her and sniffed while he wiped his face. She very cautiously licked his arm and put her head in his lap. The marauder petted her head and stopped sniveling. A little rush of confidence surged through him and he stood up, and walked over to the door. After working up more courage , he wandered out into the Slayer’s workshop, “Did I piss you off? I’m sorry.” </p><p>The Slayer put down his tools and half fixed armor. He turned to face the demon. After a long pause, he shook his head, then he motioned to his neck and shook his head again. </p><p>“Your neck? Is something wrong with you neck?” The marauder took a step closer to him. </p><p>The Slayer angrily shook his head and grabbed a tool off his workbench, smashing in into the ground. It broke in half and it’s pieces went flying across the room. Every word the marauder spoke send an unholy rage curling through him. He had that. He could communicate. A long time ago he could’ve explained to the demon how much he loved him. Now it felt like he was trapped within the body of a god desperately wanting to be human. His own divinity rooted his humanity just out of his grasp. As foolish as it was, he would gladly pace around the tree howling at the fruit of humanity, lust, and sin. Throwing off the angelic wings and halos of the seraph’s services, no matter how long they had taken him to obtain, seemed a small price to pay for his original form to be returned. It was the Slayer’s forbidden folly. </p><p>When he was alone with Vega and Samuel it was never an issue. He never needed to explain complex details like love, so speaking was completely unnecessary. Now with Daisy and the Marauder here, he desperately wanted to form physical relationships but was trapped. He sunk to the floor and covered his visor with his hands. </p><p>There was a long pause, then the marauder walked off. </p><p>To say the Slayer cried was an understatement. He sobbed as he heard the echo of the marauder’s footsteps get more and more distant. The demon must have finally realized the Slayer was weak and pathetic. He probably was already back in hell. </p><p>He hugged his knees to his chest and desperately tried to calm himself. It only made him sob more. </p><p>His rage had disappeared and he sunk into sadness. He already missed the marauder, his sweet demon boyfriend. A headache of sorrow began throbbing at his temples and he groaned deep in his throat. Waves of pain crashed over him, both emotional and physical. </p><p>How long had it been? Twenty minutes? An hour? An eternity? His mind felt fuzzy and dazed from his outburst. The final choice seemed to be the most accurate. He was fully ready to accept he had been there for an eternity, his bones now dust and his helmet rusted beyond recognition. The inside of his visor had streaks of salt, from his dried tears, covering it. </p><p>Suddenly something interrupted him from his fantasy of pain and suffering, he felt something papery poke at his helmet. He scrunched up tighter in his ball of self hatred and buried his head into his knees. The papery thing poked him again and he looked up. </p><p>The marauder was crouched down in front of him holding a note book and a strange metal pen out to him. “Can you write?”</p><p>It felt like his heart had been lit again, a dripping warmth filled him. Yes, yes! He could write! The Slayer grabbed the notebook and pen and immediately began scribbling his words. Oh did it feel well to communicate once more. His handwriting was jagged and shaky, most likely from the tears streaming his visor than disuse, but it was still clear enough for the marauder to read the words, “I love you.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Enjoy! :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The marauder immediately grabbed the Slayer and hugged him tight. “I love you too. I love you too.” </p>
<p>The Slayer began writing some more and handed the note book to the marauder so he could read it. ‘Not good at writing. I’ll do best.’</p>
<p>“I’ll be patient.” He smiled down at the man. “As long as it takes.” </p>
<p>The Slayer smiled up at him, the squint of his smiling eyes through the helmet was all that gave away his emotions. He grabbed the marauder and dragged him to the kitchen, setting him down at the table. He paused for a moment. The words for cooking evaded him so he drew a little sketch of a stick figure wearing a chef hat making pancakes. </p>
<p>The marauder grinned and looked excited, “Oh this will be delicious! I didn’t know you cooked. Wait... you can cook, right?” </p>
<p>He happily shook his head no and began mixing a cheap bag of pancake mix with water. </p>
<p>The demon was wary at first but soon succumbed to the all powerful scent of pancakes. It took all his will power not to run up and shove one of the pancakes in his mouth right off the stove. Luckily, it only took a few minutes for them to cook. </p>
<p>The Slayer attempted to impress his boyfriend by flipping the pancake with a spatula. He dug the spatula underneath it and sent in hurling upwards, firmly sticking it to the ceiling. </p>
<p>Both of them stared at the half-baked splattered dough that once was a pancake and began laughing. Daisy leaped up onto the table out of nowhere and began lapping up the ceiling pancake. </p>
<p>The marauder whined and dug his clawed hands into the wood grain of the table. His stomach howled in hunger. “Come on I’m starving dammit!” </p>
<p>He chuckled and shifted from side to side while he finished up the cooking. This time he didn’t go crazy with the flipping and successfully landed a few pancakes. </p>
<p>“Excellent!” The marauder’s mouth was watering over the deliciousness hand cooked by the Slayer himself. Whether it was well cooked remained to be seen.</p>
<p>He set a plate stacked with pancakes in front of his hungry boyfriend. Before the demon could dig in, he held up a small container of syrup and one of butter. He smiled kindly under his helmet, putting the butter and syrup on them. Then, he handed him a fork. Motioning for him to eat up, he went back to the stove and finished up making his own. </p>
<p>Poking gently at the sticky stack of pancakes, the marauder began doubting the human breakfast food once more. It was unlike anything he’d ever seen. “What is the sticky stuff?” </p>
<p>Samuel burst into laughter, “IT’S CU-“ </p>
<p>“SAMUEL!” Vega cut him off and chuckled nervously, “It’s syrup. A sweet sticky topping for pancakes, other baked goods, and spaghetti.” </p>
<p>“Vega please tell me you’re joking. It’s not for spaghetti.” Samuel sighed. </p>
<p>“That’s what my database says... is that wrong?” </p>
<p>The Slayer set down another plate of pancakes and began to gobble them down as the voices fought. </p>
<p>Samuel just screamed, “MY CREATION IS RUINED BEYOND REPAIR,” and loudly disconnected from the room. </p>
<p>Vega chimed happily, “Oh it’s very fun to annoy him. I’ll need to try that more often.” He paused for a moment, “but, yes, dig in Mr. Marauder.” </p>
<p>He used the fork to cut a little piece off, nibbling it cautiously. “Mmmhh!” He took a bigger bite, “Oh my GOD this is good.” The rate at which he inhaled the pancakes was borderline hazardous but hey the Slayer was glad he was enjoying himself. </p>
<p>After Daisy licked the pancake splatter off the ceiling, she leaped off the table and began begging for more. “Screee?” Nibbling gently at the Slayer’s arm, she began begging more pitifully. </p>
<p>He nodded his head and gave Daisy the rest of his pancakes. A sigh escaped his lips and he leaned back in his chair, as much as he loved pancakes they sat like a rock in his stomach. Suddenly, he paused for a minute, stuck deep in though. When had he last eaten like this? A full meal, not mystery meat, or crackers? He racked his brain for the answer but couldn’t even begin to remember. The food was starting to make him groggy and a bit sick. Most likely it was too much too fast for his body. </p>
<p>The marauder began licking the syrup off the plate with his tongue. Obviously, he was unaffected by the power of the pancakes. He was much more comfortable with the habit of gorging himself and starving the rest of the time. It reminded him of the feasts and long fasts of hell. “You know in hell,” he cut himself off and licked the plate some more, “a demon would butcher a group of pinkies and everyone would feast on them for days. It was delicious, not as good as these things,” he motioned to the licked-clean plate that used to have a stack of pancakes on it, “but close. After the feast, we would starve for weeks or months before we slaughtered another group of pinkies.” </p>
<p>The Slayer quickly scribbled in his note book and thrust in in front of the demon, ‘Why pinkies only?’</p>
<p>“Oh I suppose others were eaten as well but pinkies just tasted the best.” He smiled at the Slayer who was watching him with such an interested expression, “You cooked for me, one day I’ll make you pinky. I’m sure you’ll love it.” </p>
<p>He thought for a moment and scribbled in his notebook again, ‘Yes :D’</p>
<p>The marauder pointed at the little smiley face, “Oh my it’s so cute! Not as cute as me of course,” he motioned to his zombieified undead face, “but definitely close.” </p>
<p>The Slayer chuckled set his notebook down, unable to communicate his next thought through mere words. He walked over to the marauder and kissed him, he tasted sugary sweet, probably from the fact that he just drank half his body weight in syrup. </p>
<p>“Let’s do something fun with Daisy.” The marauder pulled back from the Slayer. </p>
<p>Daisy upon hearing her name scurried up into the marauder’s lap and began licking the sugar off his face. </p>
<p>“Eww don’t lick my face that’s-“ he was cut off by Daisy shoving her tongue into his mouth and licking the sugar off his tongue. He shouted curses and wiped the inside of his mouth out with a napkin. “Daisy you can’t lick the inside of my mouth. That’s weird and gross and-“ </p>
<p>Daisy looked between the Slayer and the marauder with a knowing, smug look on her gargoyle face. </p>
<p>“No.” The marauder stared at her. </p>
<p>The Slayer tried his best not to laugh at his lover’s misfortune, but he simply couldn’t stop himself. He put his hand over his mouth and snorted with laughter. </p>
<p>The smug remained in place. It seemed more firmly rooted than the Slayer’s love for killing demons. </p>
<p>“That’s... that’s different. We like each other so that’s why we do that.”</p>
<p>looking up at the two with a sad expression, Daisy hung her head and hopped off the marauder’s lap. </p>
<p>The Slayer scribbled in his notebook and held it out to Daisy. ‘Don’t worry we like you Daisy.’</p>
<p>Daisy nodded, her tiny gargoyle brain finally understanding. It still made her a little sad though. </p>
<p>The demon sighed, “Daisy don’t be sad.”</p>
<p>The Slayer handed him a note, ‘here I got this.’ He squatted down and opened his arms. </p>
<p>Daisy wandered over to him, chirping and trilling happily. Very carefully, making sure her blades were in a dangerous position, she wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug. </p>
<p>The marauder smiled, “Awww.” </p>
<p>The Slayer wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. In an instant, she wiggled out of his arms and perched on top of his head. Her clawed feet gingerly wrapped around his neck as her arms and wings hugged his head tightly. As cute as it looked it blocked the Slayer’s vision a good bit. He stumbled forwards trying to locate the door way and crashed right into a wall. Turning, he walked right into a table with a loud clang. </p>
<p>The marauder clamped his hand over his mouth and tried not to laugh. The Slayer had all the navigational prowess of a drunk Roomba. “Here, babe.” He helped pry Daisy’s wings off the man’s head. </p>
<p>The Slayer grunted his gratitude and led the demon out of the kitchen. He handed the marauder a note, ‘Wanna workout? Daisy can too.’</p>
<p>The marauder read it and nodded his head, “Uhh,” he hadn’t the slightest idea what the DoomSlayer’s workout would consist of, “What the hell, why not?” </p>
<p>The man led them down the twisting hallways until they were an an elevator. Despite her fear the first time, Daisy bounded into it, chirping excitedly. The last time she came down here she shot a gun and made the Slayer proud. Her mandibles shook with excitement as the elevator sunk to the lower levels of the fortress. </p>
<p>The marauder stood awkwardly in the corner, elevators had never been his strong suit. The ones in hell were so rickety and shaky it gave him anxiety just thinking about them. </p>
<p>The Slayer sensed his boyfriend’s fear and reached over, holding his hand. Ever so gently he gave it a quick squeeze. </p>
<p>The elevator stopped suddenly and the doors whipped opened. The three stepped out into the training area with the sentinel mech towering over them. Daisy immediately began begging for a shotgun and the Slayer obliged, handing her his combat shotgun. Instead of staying in the training area the Slayer led them into a room under the sentinel mech. </p>
<p>It was almost pitch black and only illuminated by some small red lights set into the wall. A single screen was working, the man pressed the text on it that said “Riptorium.” </p>
<p>Daisy and the marauder sunk back, letting the Slayer stand on the circular elevator before they did. It sunk down into the floor and after a very short ride let them to an open room. </p>
<p>“What is this place-“ the marauder was cut off by the Slayer leaping down onto the stage. </p>
<p>Him and Daisy followed as she cocked the combat shotgun, chirping up a storm. </p>
<p>A sudden flash of red light appeared right in front of the marauder. Jumping back, he realize what the place was. An arena. His face twisted in a snarl and he lunged for the zombie that appeared through the light. He had left his axe and shotgun behind on Taras Nabad but he still had his fists. With ruthless precision, he snapped its head off its body, showering himself in blood. </p>
<p>Daisy started showering the stage in sticky bombs. Letting out a battle screech as she tore through the hordes. </p>
<p>A carcass appeared in a flash of hell fire and began throwing up shields. Their blue light blocking the trio from their blood lust fueled ripping and tearing session. </p>
<p>The marauder let out a roar of a battle cry and shouted to the Slayer, “GET THE CARCASS I’LL GIVE YOU A BOOST!” </p>
<p>A quick nod and the Slayer charged towards the marauder. The demon knelt down, lacing his fingers together. The Slayer put his hands on the demon’s shoulder and shoved his boot into his laced fingers. The marauder shot up and sent the man flying upwards, sending the man sailing over the shields and landing him squarely on the ungodly creature’s head. A quick snap of its neck disabled the annoying shields. </p>
<p>The man nodded at the marauder and gave him a quick thumbs up. Suddenly a zombie swung at his head but was quickly dealt with by Daisy and her shotgun. He gave her thumbs up and proceeded to rip and tear through fodder once more. </p>
<p>Bloodlust coursed through their veins in waves. Adrenaline pounded on every cell like an angry mob. The feelings and thoughts that had dared trespass upon the Slayer conscience were thrown off like shackles in the throbbing heat of the fight. His hands reached out, grabbing skulls and turning them into sticky paste. The grey rotted matter flew past him, and nausea rose in his throat. As often as he tread through such unholy and despicable gore it still made his stomach twirl occasionally. </p>
<p>Imps, Hell knights, Revenants, even a Baron of Hell. The beast charged the Slayer, slicing at him with its claws and hitting home only once before the man finished it with shot from his ballista, sending its head flying across the room.</p>
<p>Many demons dared to rear their faces in the domain of the DoomSlayer, but they were dealt with swiftly by the three bloodlust power houses. Specks of gore splattered them like stars in the sky by the end of the struggle. </p>
<p>The final imps were dealt with by Daisy while the marauder waved the Slayer over. Sweat ran down the demon’s neck; his skin was glazed in its sparkling sheen. “That was wonderful! Oh babe come here!” Wiping the heaviest gore off him, he began making his way to his lover. </p>
<p>The Slayer chuckled, nodding his head, but when he when to walk he cried out in pain. His leg hurt so bad it made him flinch and clutch the wound he just realized he had received. </p>
<p>In an instant the marauder was by his side, easing him down onto the floor of the stage, “Where is is?” </p>
<p>The Slayer gasped as he pried off a half sliced off armor plate on the inside of his thigh, just above his knee. It revealed two nasty cuts that ran deep into his flesh. That damn Baron nicked him just good enough to leave a mark and he was furious. Refusing to let himself be held down, he struggled to his feet, against the protests of the wound and his boyfriend. </p>
<p>“Wait, lord dammit, darling WAIT.” He looped his arm around the Slayer’s waist, supporting him the best he could. </p>
<p>The man refused to be touched and shoved the demon away, throwing a note at him, ‘I can do it myself.’</p>
<p>“But you don’t have to.” The marauder tossed the note aside and grabbed the Slayer once more. Tears started running down his cheeks and his voice cracked, “I’m here for you, let me help you. I know you can do it yourself. You know I don’t doubt your strength.” </p>
<p>The Slayer stopped struggling and leaned on his boyfriend. The demon argued a damn good point, and the the man hated to admit it. </p>
<p>The marauder looked down at the man and grinned, “I’m gonna get you to the infirmary and it will be all good.” </p>
<p>The Slayer grumbled under his breath. The awkwardness of the infirmary made him squeamish. Once he had to strip down naked for Vega to tend to a wound, of course, he trusted the AI, but being in a vulnerable position naked, of all things, was one of his worst fears. In most cases he would rather bleed out than have Vega gently talk him though removing his pants while robotic arms hovered over his wound once more. </p>
<p>Vega chimed down from the ceiling, interrupting the Slayer’s thoughts, “Mr. marauder I thank you for your help in convincing him to go to the infirmary.” </p>
<p>The demon nodded, “Thank you Vega.” He helped the man into a portal that had just opened up, trying not to panic too much when the Slayer gasped in pain.</p>
<p>Daisy sprinted into the portal just before it closed. As soon as she was through on the other side, she was cooing and fussing over the injured man. Her nose could pick up more information about a wound in a second than Vega’s sensors could in a minute, she couldn’t give diagnoses of course but she could easily get a grasp of the severity of the wound. </p>
<p>“Come on we’re almost there.” His boyfriend supported more and more of the man’s weight, until the Slayer finally slumped into his arms. Taking a moment to readjust, he carried the man all the way to the infirmary.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>It’s taking everything I have not to get distracted and write a Halloween doom fic and the new 2020 Halloween event is NOT helping. </p>
<p>Must... resist... </p>
<p>Uhh right now I kinda feel down in the dumps a bit too much starring at a screen I guess. I’m gonna take an Advil and make some hot chocolate. Make sure y’all take care of yourselves.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sorry for being a day late. I’ve been so sick I can barely do anything except curl up in a ball and watch among us play throughs. I got a covid test today so we’ll see how that goes. I love y’all stay safe!!</p><p>(Edit: the test was negative and I’m all good &lt;3)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He set the man down on an operating table. Carefully sliding his hands out from underneath the man and lacing his fingers with his. “How are you doing?” </p><p>The man nodded and gave him a weak thumbs up. A weak feeling began to take him over now that he knew he was safe. Shifting his head on the table making a soft clack noise, he looked up at the ceiling. </p><p>Vega spoke in the calmest voice he could muster, which was quite calming and soothing considering it was his job to be personable. “I’m going to elevate your leg for better access to the wound. I’ll also remove a few armor plates as well.” The AI paused for a second, “Please remain steady.” </p><p>The Slayer’s stomach was doing backflips. He tried desperately to focus on the marauder squeezing his hand not the slow careful moment of the robotic arms. </p><p>One carefully snaked under his knee and slowly lifted upwards. The arms were gente and made sure to be as careful as they could. Another arm began removing plates of armor around the wound and cut away at the mesh fabric underneath them. </p><p>The marauder found himself memorized at how fluid the arms moved. The Slayer turned away and looked in the opposite direction, embarrassment lit his face up like a light. One leg lifted two feet in the air, awkwardly spread apart from his other. The marauder gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and glanced down at him. That was enough to keep him strong and sane for another minute or so. </p><p>The arms paused as Vega spoke once more, “I’ll have to sterilize the wound, would you like me to administer an anesthesia-“ </p><p>The Slayer quickly shoot his head, and scribbled a note, ‘No I don’t wanna sleep.’</p><p>Vega’s voice had a concerned tone to it, “at least a local anesthesia of cour-“ </p><p>The Slayer writing was big and jagged but still once again a big firm, ‘NO.’</p><p>Samuel decided to grace all of them with his presence, “You do understand how fucking unnecessarily painful that will be, correct?” </p><p>Daisy hopped up on the table and whined, seemingly trying to convince the man. She curled up beside his feet. </p><p>The marauder gently shook him, “Come on just take a little bit you’ll feel much better. Do it for all of us. We just want the best for you, even Samuel.” </p><p>Samuel snorted, “I just don’t want to hear your screams.” He flicked through a couple cameras and got a good look at the wound. It truly did look terrible. Two sickening gaping slices taken out of his thigh, nothing he couldn’t handle of course but still Samuel felt something, maybe pity, for the man. “Besides you know I’m right. I always know what’s best for you.” </p><p>Hey, he’s a condescending asshole, but he’s their condescending asshole. </p><p>‘Fine.’ The note didn’t make it sound like he was pleased, but he allowed Vega to poke him with a needle in his leg. Almost instantly, a numb tingling feeling overtook him. Luckily the strongest affects remained local and he wasn’t forced under. He groaned and relaxed, drifting in and out of a strange half asleep daze. Occasionally, a prick of pain would make him flinch, but the marauder was always by his side to calm him right back down. </p><p>Vega calmly announced... uhh... something. The Slayer was too busy drifting off into la la land. He didn’t want to ignore Vega because he felt like that was rude so he scribbled out a note, ‘I don’t like salad. Like a really don’t like salad. Is weird.’ He then proceeded to scribble on about salad. Sometimes it was a long chunk of text describing his hatred of salad, other times it was a quick drawing of a salad with knives stabbed into it. </p><p>“God bless the DoomSlayer.” Samuel muttered. The man and his absolute batshit antics never ceased to amaze him, but he also enjoyed the craziness. </p><p>The marauder watched as the arms finished up their diligent work. The last sutures were tied into place and they gently placed the Slayer’s leg back on the table. Vega chuckled, “Like brand new! Of course, the Slayer heals remarkably fast so he shouldn’t be out of commission for too long.” </p><p>“Good.” The marauder, gently sliding his hands back underneath the man, lifted his groggy boyfriend off the table. The man was, and I shit you not, STILL scribbling on and on about salad. </p><p>Samuel quickly took control of one of the operating arms and plucked the notebook and pen out of the Slayer’s grasp. “I’m sick of reading about salad. That is enough.” </p><p>The man paused for a second, staring intently at his now empty hands. He looked up at the marauder and made a sad, pitiful little noise before flopping his weight into the demon’s arms. </p><p>Vega chided Samuel, “Look his dopamine levels are dropping! How could you?” </p><p>“I’d gladly trade some of his dopamine for my own sanity.” The robotic voice snorted. </p><p>The man groaned loudly and wiggled free of the marauder’s grasp. Standing was easy but any movement made the wound burn like hellfire. It was a complicated with a bad limp, but managed to walk on his own. </p><p>“Here why don’t we clean up?” The marauder herded his strong little man and Daisy into the bathroom. Immediately he tossed Daisy in the shower, ignoring her protests and cranking it up to max water pressure. </p><p>Then, he turned his attention to the Slayer who was still covered in gore. With as much patience as he could muster, he helped the man get out of his armor. The Slayer kept swaying and trying to take the armor off himself. “Please for the love of god. Stay. Still.” The marauder struggled with a strap on the man’s armored shoulder covered in slimy brain matter. </p><p>The Slayer obeyed and stopped moving. In a few minutes he was completely stripped out of his armor and the mesh fabric below It. Luckily, the Slayer wore boxers under the mesh material of the armor so he didn’t have to get an eyeful. His head rolled back lazily, helmet still splattered and splashed with blood. </p><p>The demon maneuvered him to sit on the edge of the tub and began scrubbing off his helmet with a scrub brush. It was a comical sight really, the marauder scrubbing off the DoomSlayer’s helmet with a scrub brush. His head gently went with the scrubbing motioned and rolled back and forth ever so slightly. As he grabbed a wet towel and wiped off the suds, Daisy started screeching in the shower. </p><p>“SCREEEE!” </p><p>The marauder just sighed and dried off the man’s helmet, “Daisy, I highly doubt you’re clean yet.” </p><p>She whined out the most pitiful little whimper and went silent. </p><p>He left the bathroom for a moment and grabbed some clean clothes for both him and the Slayer. He stood in front of the man and helped him into some gray loose pants. Then, he gently booped the helmet and guided a nice clean white T-shirt over it. “All done! Now you look at clean and pretty.” He reached out his hand and helped the Slayer stand up. He really enjoyed caring for his boyfriend, making sure he was safe, fed, and clean brought him some kind of absolute joy he didn’t even understand. He helped the Slayer out of the bathroom and laid him on the bed. “Just stay here for a second. I won’t be long.” </p><p>Rising up like the undead, the man refused to lay down and instead sat up. He nodded to the demon and gave him a thumbs up. </p><p>Walking back into the bathroom with a big smile plastered on his face, he grabbed a towel and prepared to let Daisy out of the shower. As soon as he cracked the door open just a hair, Daisy bolted out of the shower and immediately started shaking, spraying water EVERYWHERE.</p><p>“Daisy, NO!” He charged the demon wrapping her up in a towel as fast as he could and drying her off. </p><p>She refused to accept this concept of “dryness”, screamed, and knocked every bottle of shampoo off the sink and ledge of the bathtub. Which was surprisingly a lot of shampoo, but that did explain why the Slayer’s hair was so freaking downy soft. </p><p>He wrestled the demon to the ground again and threw her out of the bathroom, still slightly moist but at least she wasn’t soaking wet. “Begone demon go snuggle him.” He pointed at the Slayer, who was still sitting on the bed. </p><p>He shut the door to the bathroom and cleaned up the mess, trying to figure out where each bottle went. There were so many bottles he just gave up and stacked them up on the bathtub ledge, hoping the Slayer could fix them later. </p><p>He stripped out of his armor and quickly got a shower. Then, threw his clothes on, his gray utilitarian pajamas he had worn earlier, and headed back out into the bedroom. </p><p>After they were all cleaned up, the demon herded his moist lover and child out into the Slayer’s workshop. </p><p>Vega chuckled, “Perhaps a movie to keep the Slayer in place for a while?” </p><p>The marauder grabbed him and wrestled him into his reading chair. The Slayer used his good leg and playfully kicked him away. Then, tried to sit up and swing a playful punch at the demons head. The marauder ducked, “Anything to keep him distracted would be a BLESSING right now!” </p><p>A screen slid down from the ceiling and a random action movie of some kind immediately started playing. The Slayer flopped back in his chair, mesmerized by the carnage and explosions on the screen. </p><p>Daisy, carefully avoiding the man’s wounds, hopped into his lap and curled up for a quick nap. </p><p>As careful as he could, the Slayer gently started petting the garygole’s head. The main characters ran through explosion after explosion, gunfight after gunfight. The Slayer smiled to himself, he wondered if the humans thought of him like this. Trying desperately to be humble, he wondered if they made a movie of him. A chirp from Daisy brought him out of his little power fantasy. </p><p>The marauder sighed and sat down on the floor in-front of the chair. He wanted to enjoy the movie, but he had a strange sinking feeling that he Slayer was going to get hurt again. It was just paranoia he told himself. He discarded it when a bot hovered in the room holding the pen and notebook Samuel had taken from the Slayer. </p><p>The bot handed the Slayer, who was now almost fully out of la la land, the notebook and pen. Vega chimed down from the ceiling, “There you go. I finally got it off Samuel.”</p><p>He scribbled, ‘Thanks,’ and began ripping the pages of salad ranting out. </p><p>The marauder twisted away from the screen with an outstretched hand, “Hey, give those to me.” </p><p>The Slayer absentmindedly handed him the pages and continued to watch the movie. </p><p>The marauder folded the pages and made a little book of sorts out of the papers. He grabbed the man’s pen and wrote in his absolutely horrendous handwriting, hey calligraphy wasn’t a class in hell, “THE DOOMSLAYER’S HIGH RANT ‘BOUT SALAD.” Then, proceeded to put it on the man’s bookshelf. When he snuggled back up and the foot of the chair, his chin resting on the man’s good leg, he turned around a shot a smug smile at him. </p><p>Putting his notebook on the arm of the chair, he smiled and pet both Daisy’s and the marauder’s heads. Although, he did feel the slightest tinge of regret that he couldn’t pull his lover up into his lap. His wound kept him in enough pain to make him uncomfortable but not a howling white hot pain. He was still in the awkward, uncomfortable stage of his rapid healing. </p><p>The marauder leaned into the gentle head pats and sighed. He felt so at peace, almost as if he was melting. The stress of the fight and the slayer getting hurt had shaken him more than he wanted to admit. He glanced out the window at the earth. As much as he wanted to snuggle with his lover forever, there was still work to do. Pits of hell fire were still carved into the ground, massive pentagrams spanned whole countries, and gore nests still corrupted the world. He couldn’t rest and was trapped between bliss and anxiety. </p><p>While physical pain plagued the slayer and emotional pain nibbled away at the marauder’s happiness, Daisy looked back and forth between both males. Then, decided to let the marauder have the Slayer. Leaping off his lap, making him grit his teeth in pain, she snuggled up between the chair and bookshelf. </p><p>The marauder smiled at Daisy’s act of sharing and swooped the Slayer up, picking him up very gently, sitting down, and putting the man on his lap. </p><p>If the man was surprised at the sudden act he didn’t show it. He simply sighed and shimmied his head under the marauder’s chin. </p><p>The demon held the man’s hands, playing with his scarred fingers. Before he knew it, he found himself running his hands over old scars on the man’s arms, neck, and legs. Who knows how many fights it took him to get an arsenal of this many wicked scars. Some of them made the demon cringe where he could feel the muscle beneath them missing a chunk of flesh. There was a big one on the man’s shoulder that he was almost certain had cut down to the bone. “How did you get all your scars?” </p><p>Carefully maneuvering his injured leg, he wiggled around to straddle the demon’s lap and grabbed his notebook. He held it up to his lover, ‘To many to remember everything. Pick one and I’ll see if I remember.’ </p><p>“Ooh ok!” The marauder look up and down the man’s body until he finally pointed at a scar on his arm that was shaped like a half moon. “What’s that one?” </p><p>After scribbling quickly he held up his notebook again, ‘Pinky charged me and ripped me up with its tusk.’ He ran his hand over the scar, ‘I got lucky.’ </p><p>“What about this one?” He pointed to a tiny silvery scar on his neck. </p><p>He thought for a moment, tapping his finger to his helmet. He shrugged and held up the notebook again, ‘I don’t remember.’</p><p>“Oh god... what happened there?” He pointed to a huge scar on the top of his thigh. It ran the whole length of his thigh and still looked gruesome despite being healed. </p><p>The Slayer grunted, ‘Cyberdemon.’ He hated to admit how torn up he had gotten in that fight. Oh course he had been fine, but the moments of weakness he had back then simply... disappointed himself. </p><p>The marauder gently touched a scar on the Slayer’s chest and before he could even speak the man took his shirt off. </p><p>‘Cacodemon hit me with a blast dead center. Knocked the breath outta me.’ He felt the marauder run his hand over the scarred mangled flesh. </p><p>“I never expected you to have so many scars.” He looked up at the man’s helmet. </p><p>The Slayer felt his face burn. What did he mean by that? That he expected the man to be a stronger fighter or that-</p><p>“I think it’s beautiful. It shows how strong you are. How you keep going.” </p><p>A tear ran down the Slayer’s face. Luckily, it was hidden by his helmet. He scribbled quickly in his notebook, ‘Thanks,’ he paused for a second before showing it and wrote, ‘Thanks babe.’</p><p>After reading the note with a giant grin on his face, he grabbed the man, pulled his helmet up just enough, and kissed him. While he kissed him he ran his hands down the Slayer’s strong arms and once again he felt the wound on his shoulder that had cut down to bone. </p><p>When he touched it the Slayer quickly drew back, watching him with a strange stare. Inside his mind the Slayer desperately begged the demon not to ask how he had gotten that scar. </p><p>The marauder looked up at his boyfriend’a face, “How did you get this one?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’m laughing so hard at the mistakes in the last chapter. Semi-coherent me is not the best fan fiction writer. I’ll fix the mistakes soon don’t worry. </p>
<p>In fact I’m gonna go through and edit the whole fic, nothing major, just spelling and fixing me being a dumb dumb and messing up the plot line.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Slayer screamed inside his head. He wanted to lie. In his whole life he had been honest to a fault, but he would trade his BFG for a sliver tongue right now. He desperately wanted to escape, to crawl up in an air duct and disappear. </p>
<p>“If it’s sensitive that’s fine-“ the marauder cut himself off at the Slayer began writing in his notebook. </p>
<p>It was slow, painstakingly slow. While the man only needed to write three letters, each one seemed so daunting he didn’t know where to begin. Finally, he handed his notebook to the demon. </p>
<p>The marauder looked up at the Slayer, concerned about his strange behavior until he saw the note. Those three letters burnt into his soul. </p>
<p>‘You.’</p>
<p>He put the note book down and looked from the scar to his lover, “I’m so sorry.” The fact that they fought in the past slammed into the marauder’s conscious. The dark side of his mind took over and he felt himself fall away. He wondered how much it had hurt, how much blood his lover had lost, if the Slayer ever couldn’t sleep from the dull throbbing pain of the wound. He went to pick the Slayer up off his lap to leave, but was stopped by the smaller man. </p>
<p>He slammed him full weight into the demon, forcing him to remain sitting.  Bear hugging him, he forced his arms to his side. His heart pounded with fury and rage, refusing to let the demon go anywhere, especially away from him. </p>
<p>The demon tried to break free, “Stop it. Leave me alone.” His heart began racing and he felt panic cloud his judgment. Trying to stand up, he was once again stopped. It wasn’t panic as much as it was overwhelming guilt. </p>
<p>As soon as the Slayer felt the demon move he clamped his legs together with his knees. With his stitches straining and beginning to bleed, he forced the demon to stay down. </p>
<p>“Let. Me. Go.” He just wanted to be as far away from the Slayer as possible. He didn’t want to have to look into the eyes of someone he cared about so much and know that he hurt them. </p>
<p>The Slayer screamed in a feral rage filled way only he could. It was the only thing he could thing to do. Overwhelming anxiety washed over him in waves and he grabbed the notebook, still making sure the demon was pinned. </p>
<p>The marauder quit struggling out of fear and Daisy leapt up from her spot. Vega and Samuel chimed into the room expecting to see blood or carnage. </p>
<p>Everyone watched as the Slayer slowly relaxed his panicked muscles and continued scribbling in the notebook. The whole fortress was quiet enough to hear an pin drop on the floor. Thick, dead silence settled over everyone, as the Slayer finally handed the note to the marauder. </p>
<p>Daisy watched with a curious glance, but knew better than to interrupt.</p>
<p>The demon carefully took it, ‘I don’t care about the wound. You were fighting to kill me back then but I was fighting to kill you too. It’s even. I love you and if I had to get a million wounds like this one to get to be your lover I’d do it in an instant cause you’re cute and nice.’</p>
<p>The Slayer was blushing furiously underneath his helmet. His writing was god awful, run on sentences and random fragments of thoughts he discarded dotted the page. Hopefully, the marauder would even be able to understand it.</p>
<p>Judging by the way the demon’s chest shook and the tears that ran down his face as he hugged the Slayer tight, he understood the note. Sure, the image of him swinging an axe into the man’s shoulder would be burned into the marauder’s mind till he died, but the man forgiving him helped. </p>
<p>After the stress he had just put on his stitches, which began to throb painfully and bled a little more, the man flopped into the demons arms. Desperately wanting to forget what had just happened, he hated remembering they fought before. It drove him mad thinking about past bloodlust towards his now lover. </p>
<p>He could still see it in vivid detail. The way his lover stepped out of the portal, the way the demon charged him, and the absolute rage that covered both of their faces, like a mask of hatred towards each other. The most vivid memory was that damn axe arcing through the air and burying itself into his shoulder. </p>
<p>The marauder snapped the Slayer out of his thoughts, “remember when I told you me and Daisy planned for eons to escape hell? We... our original plan was never to use your image to escape it was to kill you. Then, everyone would be too afraid to stop us from leaving. Of course that’s changed now.” He hung his head and wanted to curl up in a ball. First the wound, now this. He was a demon and he had the sins to prove it. Why did all his sins decide to get dug up and thrown in his face at this moment? He knew it was right to tell the Slayer but damn did it hurt. </p>
<p>The Slayer poked him with a note, ‘Hey it’s a good plan. I can’t blame you. You were desperate to get out I understand that very well. Hell sucks.’</p>
<p>Looking at the note slowly cheered the demon up. After reading it a few times, he nodded his head, “Yeah it does suck.” There was a long moment of silence between them. For five minutes they just stared into each others eyes. It wasn’t an agressive stare down, at least it didn’t feel like one. Just merely some sort of ritual, maybe an alliance of sorts. Then, it was finally broken by the marauder, “You wanna keep watching the movie?” </p>
<p>A quick nod of the man’s helmet was all the demon needed to see. Reclining back in the chair as the Slayer wiggled into a comfortable position, the marauder sighed in comfort. The stress of those panicked moments where he felt uncertainty creep between him and his lover almost drove him mad. If he would have shoved the Slayer aside and walked off... a wave of anxiety cut that thought off before it could manifest its self into a twisted blackened stain upon his mind. </p>
<p>The movie played on for an hour more and they watched another after it. The Slayer knew he should be working, or cleaning his armor, or anything, but being in his lovers arms felt to good to pull away from. </p>
<p>Love and the passionate feelings he felt for the Slayer started to pound within his chest. Once the man lounged on his lap found himself comfortable, he brushed his hand down the man’s muscular sides. </p>
<p>As they relaxed, Daisy rested in her little nook between the chair and bookshelf, occasionally glancing up at the movie. </p>
<p>The Slayer grinned and leaned into the touch, silently begging the demon to continue. Luckily, his prayers were answered and the marauder continued. In fact, he didn’t think anything could stop the demon now. </p>
<p>The marauder was on the verge of just tackling the Slayer and kissing him till his lungs gave out. Pressing his hands against the man’s skin made his head go dizzy with excitement. He wanted to take a risk. Just a little one... slowly, he slid his hand up the front of the Slayer’s shirt. Once half of his hand was covered in the fabric, he stopped. The sensation of skin on skin almost made the marauder insane. There was an awkward moment as he waited for the Slayer to respond to his mock advance. </p>
<p>Glancing down at the advance, the man paused and contemplated for a moment. He was very inexperienced in anything romantic other than kissing. He didn’t understand why there wan an appeal for shirtless snuggling. They didn’t even have a blanket, they’d get cold! As much as the idea perplexed him, he was fine with doing something to please the marauder, since the demon had a rough day. So, without much warning, the man stripped off his shirt, tossing it on the floor. </p>
<p>“Whoa! You didn’t have to take off-“ his train of thought completely derailed as he laid his eyes upon the Slayer’s absolutely smoking abs, “Well... if you want to, I’m not complaining.” </p>
<p>The Slayer watched with a grin as the marauder admired him as if he was a fine jewel or a star in the sky. The demon probably didn’t even notice the thick red blush across his own ashy face. It brought him some strange pleasure seeing the marauder so awestruck. He felt like he didn’t deserve it. </p>
<p>“Hey can I just kiss you all over?” The marauder paused for a moment, “That sounds awkward... oh I’m sorry I always get flustered.” </p>
<p>Chuckling, the Slayer nodded his head, leaning back and allowing the marauder better access to his abs. </p>
<p>“Hell yeah!” The marauder couldn’t contain his excitement and leaned forwards too fast. Somehow, that managed to send both of them careening forwards and sent the chair tumbling on top of the two of them with an echoing slam. The marauder paused, kicking the chair off them, “You ok?” </p>
<p>The Slayer threw a note in his face that said something along the lines of ‘No, I need you to kiss me.’ Of course, the passion fried brain of the marauder saw “kiss” and went to town. </p>
<p>When the chair had fallen to the floor with a crash, Daisy had woken up once more from her nap. She pouted for a second then realized they were wrestling with their mouths yet again. It upset her how often they left her behind in their mouth wrestling matches so she snuck past them and ran out into the hallway. </p>
<p>A bot quickly veered past her and began descending through the twisting hallways. </p>
<p>Since she was bored, she followed it at a lengthy distance. She could tell it was being piloted by Vega but had no idea what it was doing. In fact, it almost looked suspicious. </p>
<p>The bot turned a sharp 180 and scanned behind it, trying to weed out its follower. </p>
<p>Daisy dove behind a crate of ammo and waited until the scanning noise stopped. Now, she was really suspicious of Vega. The AI had always been so nice...</p>
<p>The bot continued on its mysterious mission. Descending deeper, until finally it slipped into a tiny alcove that Daisy would have ignored and scurried right past. </p>
<p>She slipped inside and was greeted with the sight of a white and black robot lying on a operating table. Arms whizzed around the bot, fixing it’s broken body. Vega’s bot emptied its holding crate and dumped a few loose bolts and screws on a work bench. </p>
<p>Daisy curled up in the corner, blending in with the darkness. She watched carefully taking in the whole scene. </p>
<p>Deep within the fortress, Samuel slaved over his latest creation... Himself. </p>
<p>Have you ever worked on your own robotic body? Carefully wiring your own nervous system and installing your own processors. You probably haven’t, but if you did you’d want to be careful. </p>
<p>That’s precisely what Samuel was doing. He put his prowess for all things robotic on show and at the same time flexed his title of “Dr.” in short, the once man now robot was in his glory. He was still merely a voice trapped in the speakers but soon... he focused on his body, laying on the table still as a sleeping Snow White and grinned. Robotic arms whizzed about his creation putting it together piece by piece. </p>
<p>He had taken what was left of his original chassis and merged it with some spare parts Vega happened to have. Tragically, the parts were eggshell not the sterile white he so very preferred. He’d look like an idiot if he walked out into the fortress looking like an eggshell and white abomination. Sighing loudly he added paint to the laundry list of things that needed to be done. </p>
<p>If you were going to be a mad robotic scientist you had to look stunning. </p>
<p>Vega chimed into his makeshift workshop, “How’s everything going?” The bot hovered above the head of the half finished robot. </p>
<p>Samuel was distracted, “I need paint.” He muttered to no one in particular. “Oh,” he paused his work, “Vega.” </p>
<p>The AI seemed just as distracted as the robot. “Yes, me.” </p>
<p>Samuel scoffed in the way only he could, “Feeling like captain obvious today, are we?” It came out much harsher than he intended and he winced at the tone of his voice. He could sense a lecture building up in Vega. </p>
<p>“Please, Samuel, I don’t want to fight you anymore.” Vega wanted to snap at him but managed to keep his cool. No lecture, for now.</p>
<p>“Oh, right.” He sighed. “Sorry.” </p>
<p>Vega was pleasantly surprised by the robot’s apology, ever since he let Samuel build his body back up he tried to act more pleasant. Key word “tried.” The AI ran through his work so far, skimming the files and avoiding private ones about his past memories. “This is interesting,” he watched as the arms built a mini med kit into the side of the robot, “For the Slayer and marauder I assume?” </p>
<p>“Yes, tell me Vega do you ever get a feeling something terrible is going to happen?” Samuel’s voice sounded stressed and strained. </p>
<p>Vega paused for a long time. He watched the arms stock the med kit with all sorts of drugs and gauze as unease began to crash over him. He knew what Samuel was referring to. The fight. Two titans finally meeting... the Icon of Sin. “The DoomSlayer is strong. He’ll be fine.” The AI paused then repeated it to try and convince himself it was true, “He will be fine.”</p>
<p>“Vega,” Samuel chuckled, “I didn’t take you for a liar.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading! The next update is gonna be on the 20th of October in honor of THE ANCIENT GODS PART ONE DLC!!!!!!! </p>
<p>:D </p>
<p>God I’m so excited for it!! Also this fic is gonna continue past the main campaign and into this and future DLC content.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This contains no spoilers for the DLC. If any of my chapters contain spoilers I’ll make sure to let you guys know! </p>
<p>I played the whole DLC and all I will say is it’s amazing and definitely worth the price.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Daisy leaped up onto Samuel’s body and sat down. It was warm and she fit perfectly into the crook of its arm. In fact, she wandered if the body had been made specially for snuggling gargoyles. It sure seemed like it. </p>
<p>Samuel, upon noticing the gargoyle, made a noise similar to a cat in a blender on frappe mode. “VEGA GET THAT... THAT THING OFF MEEEEE!” His voice was dripping with malice and more rage than the Slayer. </p>
<p>“Well sir I don’t think she’s doing any harm-“ </p>
<p>“SHOO RAT DEMON!” Samuel took control over the arms of the table and began poking at the demon. He made one clamp down on her wing and attempted to pry her off. </p>
<p>Daisy growled, low and rumbling. When the arm didn’t release her she grabbed it in her mouth and mangled it beyond recognition. Despite being a gargoyle she could fuck some shit up when she had to. After all if she was to fight alongside the Slayer, she had to be badass. </p>
<p>Samuel watched in horror as she shredded the metal arm and silently begged her not to do the same to his precious body. Immediately, the arms backed off and gave the little demon plenty of room. “Fine, fine, I’ll be...” the word caused him physically pain to say, “nice. You can stay there, just don’t... do anything.” </p>
<p>Daisy accepted the terms of his surrender and snuggled into the crook of the robot’s arm. While Vega and Samuel debated over filters for the power source, Daisy wandered what they were doing and what the robot body was.</p>
<p>Vega paused, “Oh no, she’s gonna tell them.”</p>
<p>Samuel would roll his eyes if he had any at the moment, “She’s a gargoyle how can she?” </p>
<p>Vega spoke in a small soft voice, “She’s a clever girl.”</p>
<p>Dammit, Vega had a point. “I’ll rip her a new asshole if she even thinks about telling those two buffoons.” If his body was discovered and destroyed he wasn’t sure what he’d do. </p>
<p>“Sir, ‘new asshole?’ I don’t understand.” Vega was pleased Samuel had rewritten his code, allowing him to swear, but was still hopelessly behind in slang. </p>
<p>“Yelling at someone but with more pizzazz.” Samuel stared down in absolute distain for the gargoyle. </p>
<p>Vega stayed in the dark of the room contemplating the fact that a word with four Z’s existed. He, with much regret, added it to his language memory bank. Softly in the dark he whispered, “Pizzazz?” </p>
<p>Samuel realized, as he loaded his conscience into the half finished body, that Vega hadn’t given him permission to shoo Daisy out. The AI had gotten so distracted with new words and slang he let Samuel do what he pleased. The robot wandered what would happen if he told Vega about supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. </p>
<p>The led light of his faceplate flickered then began glowing a bright blue. Sudden jerky movements were all he could accomplish. He shoulders spasmed off the table in odd shaking jerks. </p>
<p>Daisy hissed at the moment and threatened to bite the robots arm off. Her mandibles clicked furiously. </p>
<p>Disgusting. </p>
<p>Samuel tried to grab the gargoyle and toss her away. In an instant she maneuvered away, chomping down on his wrist. He watched Daisy immediately turn her attention to the door. “Daisy stay here.” The demon hissed at him and attempted to bolt for the door. The robot grabbed the creature, forcing her down on the table. “Stay. Here.” </p>
<p>The little demon whined pitifully and began screaming. </p>
<p>Panicking that she’d be heard, Samuel ran down through some lines of code until he found a list of alarms. He cranked the volume up and blasted a “hull breached” alarm right in the two passionate lover’s faces. The resulting clamor and panic between them as the Slayer quickly tried to put his shirt on pleased the sadistic bastard that was Dr. Samuel Hayden and even better it bought him some time. </p>
<p>Focusing his attention back to the little creature, he began petting her head in shaky, forced motions. “Hush... if you don’t tell them I’ll give you a present.” </p>
<p>Daisy stopped screaming and glanced up at the robot’s flickering led. Her face gave off the same vibe as an “Among Us” astronaut going into electrical, she didn’t trust anything worth a damn, especially the words coming out of that robot’s mouth. </p>
<p>“I may be a bastard,” he leaned down into her face, “but I am not a liar.” </p>
<p>She relaxed in his grip and waited to hear what her reward would be. </p>
<p>Samuel had no idea what a gargoyle would like to be completely honest. The rat demon never seemed to like anything... oh wait. “Your affinity for guns is apparent... would you like your own Big. Fucking. Gun?” </p>
<p>Daisy grinned up at him with a devilish smile. Then, went dead silent and wiggled out of his arms. Her own BFG... now that would be true fun. </p>
<p>He stopped her before she could leave, “Wait, you’ll have to give me some time to repair my physical form first.” </p>
<p>She nodded her head and began making her way back up to the Slayer and marauder. The excitement of getting a BFG battled with the moral quandary of effectively betraying her loved ones. She paused just outside the door. The noise from the alarm still echoed through the halls, but by now, of course, the two had figured out it was a fake. Maybe she should tell them. The robot man seemed a little untrustworthy, but not necessarily completely evil. As daisy wandered back into the room, she realized how loud the alarm really was. </p>
<p>The marauder had his hands clamped over his ears and a terrible grimace on his face. The noise pounded into his skull and made his chest beat like a drum. </p>
<p>The man had muted his helmet to stop the noise and was hard at work trying to figure out what the hell made it go off. </p>
<p>Finally, Vega swooped in for the rescue and shut the alarm off. He winced and lied through his teeth, “Terribly sorry. It seems Samuel and I accidentally set it off while trying to divert some power-“</p>
<p>“Divert power where?” The marauder rubbed his head, trying to fight off the headache that threatened to ruin his good time. </p>
<p>Vega panicked, “Nowhere! Well somewhere, but it’s not very important.” He was truly a terrible liar to the people he loved. His curse and his blessing. He sighed, ready to accept their wrath of hiding Samuel’s body. </p>
<p>“You don’t have to explain it. It’s not like I’d understand anyways. Too complicated.” The marauder grumbled, grabbed a first aid kit off the wall, and began rummaging through it for something to quash his headache.</p>
<p>While the marauder ate half a bottle of Advil, the Slayer stared at his reading chair. For one person it was roomy, two was a bit cramped, but three was impossible. ‘Vega, do we have a couch in storage?’ </p>
<p>Vega was still thanking all the ancient gods he knew that the two hadn’t asked him about his lie. “Oh yes. It’s a bit beat up but it will be fine. Shall I bring it up for you?” </p>
<p>‘Yeah, Thanks Vega :D’ he walked over to the marauder to make sure he didn’t overdose on the Advil, leaving Vega to stare at the note. </p>
<p>That little smiley face bore two holes into his soul. He was in all aspects betraying the Slayer. Hell, he had even hooked up a hologram to make it look like Samuel was still in his forcefield. An alert from Samuel popped up in the corner of his vision and he immediately rushed down to the makeshift workshop while he sent a few bots to bring the couch up. “What is it?” </p>
<p>“If this goes wrong I’ll take all the blame. You don’t have to worry about it.” Samuel said quickly, leaving no time for Vega to question him. “That’s enough of that. I’ll continue working and you take care of the rest of those idiots.” His voice sounded kind and warm when he called them “idiots.” </p>
<p>Vega paused then, tried to respond but was cut off. </p>
<p>“That’s enough of that.” </p>
<p>“Thanks.” Vega disconnected and returned to the Slayer and marauder. The four drones he sent off to haul the couch up were finally maneuvering it into place. As soon as they set it down and took the Slayer’s chair down to storage, the Slayer grabbed up Daisy and pulled her onto the couch, placing her on his lap and petting her head. </p>
<p>Daisy purred and curled into the man, forgetting about the stress of earlier. </p>
<p>The marauder flopped down beside the Slayer, whining about his headache. He shoved his legs behind the Slayer, lying down and hogging the whole couch. “Dibs on the couch.” </p>
<p>The Slayer grumbled and stood up. Daisy slid off his lap, chattering her complaints. </p>
<p>“No...” the marauder patted the couch next to him, “lie down next to me.” </p>
<p>The man shrugged and walked up to the demon’s head, lifting him up and shimmying underneath him. Wrapping his legs around the marauder’s torso and letting the demon’s head rest on his chest. He gave him a hug, squeezing his shoulders tightly. </p>
<p>The demon snuggled into the warm touch. He patted his thighs and offered his lap to Daisy. </p>
<p>The little demon hopped into his lap and curled up immediately. She happily chittered and chirped up a storm. </p>
<p>They all felt warm and cozy in their dog pile of affection and love. Daisy crawled up on the marauder’s chest, nibbling his chin. The demon muttered his complaints but let her continue. </p>
<p>Vega watched them all with a pleasant hum in his machinery. He shoved the thought of Samuel and what would happen with the icon of sin to the back of his memory bank. He’d simply roll with the punches. He had to. Everyone had to. It was simply part of life. Whether it be in the future, the present, or older than the ancients. “Would you like me to put on another movie?’</p>
<p>The Slayer nodded his head enthusiastically. With a loud sigh, the marauder snuggled down into the man more, trying to get Daisy to stop nipping him. </p>
<p>“What would you like? An action movie?” Vega began skimming his files and glancing through some human genres. </p>
<p>‘A series, something happy.’ </p>
<p>The AI skimmed down through the thousands of series he had access to. “Hmm... perhaps... a cartoon?” A mature live action wouldn’t be nearly as happy as he assumed the Slayer wanted. </p>
<p>‘Sure.’ </p>
<p>The marauder perked up, “What’s a cartoon?” </p>
<p>‘Funny silly animations.’ The man paused for a second with his pen hovering over the paper, ‘at least that’s how I remember them. It’s been a really long time.’ </p>
<p>Rubbing at his still lingering headache, the marauder smiled, “Ok, sounds great.” </p>
<p>The television flickered for a second as it hunted down the signal and then sprang to life. A bright colorful show about a sentient sponge bathed the room in colorful light. After taking a few minutes to figure out what was going on, the marauder was pleased by the sheer stupidity and mindlessness of it all. It also helped distract from the headache that plagued him. He was surprised when the kids show even cracked a couple mature jokes. Both him and the Slayer chuckled at the antics on the screen. Daisy watched the colors and antics with a bored look. In her opinion the explosions in the previous movie were better. </p>
<p>Sighing, the marauder swore softly. His head absolutely throbbed. The headache would fake him out and pretend to wane then would charge back, crashing over him in a fresh wave of pain. “Babe can I take more Advil?” His voice was reduced to a pathetic whine. </p>
<p>The Slayer worriedly scribbled a note, ‘You’ve already taken four.’</p>
<p>The demon groaned and rolled over to face the man, clutching the base of his horns. “Please, my horns are growing, it hurts.” </p>
<p>Daisy growled as he rolled over and pinned her to the couch. Wiggling her wings, she freed herself and perched on the back of the couch, overlooking the two lovers. </p>
<p>He hushed the demon and hugged him close. ‘Let me give you horn scratchies.’ </p>
<p>“Yes...” the marauder practically melted into the touch. His whimpering got louder and louder. His horns felt as if someone was ramming two chunks of rebar into his skull. “Dammit!” He hugged the Slayer close to him as the man’s hands masterfully rubbed his horns, “Why does it have to hurt so bad?” He loved his horns. They were beacons to his demonic prowess and one of his iconic features. It was just a shame they hurt so damn bad when they grew. I’d be nice adding two more inches to his horns, and the bonus of them becoming razor sharp. </p>
<p>The Slayer tried his best to make the whimpering cries of his lover stop. They were like sandpaper to his ears, making him feel useless, but he refused to give up. Kissing his precious darling’s forehead, he continued to work and rub the base of his horns. The skin around them felt hot and puffy. He assumed the pain was similar to a migraine, at least that’s what he gathered from the whimpers. </p>
<p>Daisy nervously began chattering. She was worried about the marauder. Pain and stress were things she had a knack for detecting. Very slowly, she hopped off the couch and landed on the floor with a soft “whomp” sound, padding up to his head. His expression would twist into a grimace then once again fall back to one of relaxation. His breathing was erratic and pained. </p>
<p>Vega checked on the room and it’s inhabitants and was surprised to see the marauder in pain, “What’s wrong? Could I be of any assistance?”</p>
<p>The Slayer took one hands off the horns and scribbled a quick note, ‘His horns are growing and they hurt, painkillers maybe?’ </p>
<p>Vega at first was hesitant to use painkillers, but when he saw the demon tense up he immediately obliged, “I’m sending them up now. I will administer them as well.” </p>
<p>The Slayer continued his futile efforts of helping the marauder while he waited until the demon reached up and took the man’s hands off him. </p>
<p>Wiggling out of the man’s grasp, the marauder rubbed his red, flushed face and the puffy skin around the base of his horns. </p>
<p>‘What did you do when this happened before?’ </p>
<p>“Suffered.” The demon spat out. He didn’t even want to think about the times in hell where he had to be in pain alone. Dammit he hated long nagging pain like this. It wasn’t as simple as the quick pain of a punch or slice, it was long and brutal. Quickly, he sat up, swearing up a storm at the pain. </p>
<p>One of Vega’s bots came zipping into the room. It hovered over to the demon in pain. Quickly, he wrapped a rubber band around his arm, searching for a vein. Once he found it, he cleaned off the skin with an wipe and gave the injection. The painkiller was a bit of a hodgepodge developed by the UAC to keep demon from being in too much pain after their cruel surgeries. Despite all their flaws, they had developed some wonderful medicines and techniques for dealing with demons. </p>
<p>Daisy whined when she saw the needle poke his flesh. The Slayer quickly patted her head, handing her a note, “don’t cry little one.” She chirped happily at the nickname. Yes, she was his little one. </p>
<p>It took a few minutes for it to kick in. The Slayer scurried off the couch so the demon could have it all to himself. He sunk down into the couch. Holding up his hand, he realized he was melting. Big drips of marauder colored goo dripped down from his hand. “Woah babe look at this shiiittt...” </p>
<p>The Slayer watched his lover hold his hand in the air and shake it around a little bit. He was surprised at how fast the painkillers had tossed in into the depths of la la land. </p>
<p>“Damn this shit crazy.” Rainbows of colors flashed across his vision as he continued to melt into the couch. At least his horns didn’t hurt anymore. </p>
<p>Vega sent the bot back down to the medbay, “Oh I wasn’t expecting it to be that strong. Well he’ll be having a good time.” </p>
<p>Leaping up, Daisy perched on the back of the couch. She leaned down into his face, clacking her mandibles together. </p>
<p>The marauder gently grabbed the side of her face, “Damn, you’re ugly.”</p>
<p>Ignoring the sounds of Daisy smacking the marauder with her wings, the Slayer held up a note to the ceiling, ‘Thank you Vega. You always help me I’m grapeful for that.’ </p>
<p>Vega chuckled at ‘grapeful,’ “Sir I believe you made a slight misspelling.” </p>
<p>The man made a confused noise under his helmet, turning the note around to read over it. He chuckled when he noticed the misspelling. ‘Whoops.’ </p>
<p>“I’m grapeful to have you as my friend. I’ll help you anytime you need it.” Vega desperately wished he could give the man a hug and mused the thought out loud, “I believe if I had a physical platform I would engage in the physical contact known as a hug.” </p>
<p>The Slayer sprinted off, out of the room, up a flight of stairs, and into the main room of the fortress. He ran over to Vega’s console or computer thing, hell he didn’t care what it was it was Vega and that’s all that mattered, and flopped down on it. </p>
<p>Daisy sprinted in after him like a bat out of hell. She followed suit and wrapped her blades gently around the console. </p>
<p>Vega watched the two for a moment, confused and wondering if they had gone mad. Then, he realized the Slayer was hugging him, Daisy was hugging him. If he could cry he would’ve burst into tears. It was the kindest thing anyone’s ever done for him. </p>
<p>The man grinned at the console and gave it a thumbs up before heading back down to his la la land lover. He hoped that Vega understood how much he cared about him. The point had seemed to get across. He wandered back down to the marauder. </p>
<p>Vega chimed in as he walked into the room, “Thank you so much sir. Your hug means a lot to me.” </p>
<p>The Slayer gave the AI a thumbs up. Then, crouched down beside his lovely marauder. Daisy sat down beside him and put her head on the couch.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The marauder jerked away from the man, cracking a huge grin. “Heyyyy babe babe baby baby.” Rolling over on his side and shoving his head into the back of the couch, he arched his back and chuckled. His voice was muffled by the fabric of the couch, “baby baby baby.” </p><p>Vega couldn’t contain his laughter. The marauder was higher than a kite and quite absolutely adorable. “Oh I’m so terribly sorry about the missdosage,” he chuckled again and silently pinged Samuel, “terribly sorry.” </p><p>Samuel immediately abandoned his work, rushing his conscious to the room. Upon seeing the marauder say “baby” twenty times, he sighed, loudly. “Vega,” his voice was stern and full of annoyance, “do not ping me for these idiotic lover’s... heinous, scandalous acts.” </p><p>Daisy growled silently at Samuel and laid down beside the couch. She was careful to listen to the Marauder’s breathing and make sure nothing went wrong. </p><p>Vega sighed and felt his processors whir, doing the robotic equivalent of rolling his eyes. Samuel could be so so very dramatic sometimes.</p><p>The Slayer gently booped the side of the demon’s face. </p><p>“Ehhhh whachu doing?” He rolled over and plastered his face with a huge smile, rubbing his cheek into the man’s touch. </p><p>The Slayer petted his cheek and watched a blush form over the demon’s ashy skin. </p><p>He giggled and wiggled under the man’s touch, “stap booping meee.” </p><p>The Slayer leaned down to kiss him but pulled back. He supposed to was wrong to do that with the marauder so outta of it. With a gentle pat for his lover’s head, the Slayer stood, handing him a note. ‘I’ll go get you blankets, sleepy head.’</p><p>The marauder gently held the note in his hands. The words swam on the note, his brain refusing to decipher them. He felt guilty and whimpered, “Vega I can’t read it.” </p><p>“He’ll be back soon don’t worry Mr. marauder.” Vega explained. </p><p>The demon mumbled out, “Thanks,” and melted back into the couch a little bit. His horns didn’t hurt nearly as much. Slight pains would make his muscles spasm, but they were always over quick. Jumbled, messy thoughts were all that he could produce. He wanted to explain to the Slayer how his horns worked but the words stuck in his mouth like peanut butter.</p><p>The Slayer finally came back with a blanket, draping it over his lover. He had to wander all the way down to storage to find such a warm fluffy blanket. It took a second to tuck it around the demon’s broad shoulders and, of course, making sure his legs were covered. Satisfied with the successful burrito-ification of his boyfriend, Slayer sat down on the floor ready to take up watch over the burrito shaped cocoon. </p><p>As soon as the blanket had wrapped around the marauder, he fell asleep. It’s fluffy lull had been far too much for him to resist. </p><p>The Slayer was observant. He had to be to survive in hell to make sure he didn’t walk into trap, but this was different. It was a strange want, a strange urge to simply stare into his lovers sleeping face forever, running his eyes over ever detail and memorizing it by heart. The details were laid out before him like a feast. None of it escaped his careful gaze not even the little wrinkle between his brows, the slender purplish veins that twisted around his horns, or the way the corner of his mouth twitched up wards. </p><p>Daisy began nibbling at the Slayer’s hands until he wrapped a strong arm around her.</p><p>He noticed something strange along with the cute quirks of his lover; the demon’s horns seemed to have a coating on them. It was a cloudy covering that encased his new fresh horns, which was a shame since the man desperately wanted to see them. Tentatively, he reached out and caressed the covering. His hands came away with a watery substance on them. He made a disgruntled noise and wiped his hands off on his shirt. </p><p>Daisy chirped and attempted to explain but she was a gargoyle and couldn’t speak English. </p><p>The Slayer made a shushing noise and caressed Daisy mandibles, scratching under her chin a few times. Then, he picked her up and set her on his lap. Shifting the extra weight of the demon on his hips, he sighed It was slightly uncomfortable on the floor, but it was the place where he could be closest to his lover. </p><p>It took a few hours for the marauder to wake up once more. He sat up right with his cheeks flushed and heart pounding. The Slayer had fallen asleep and was beginning to stir. Holding Daisy tight like a stuffed animal, he stretched out from his hunched over sleeping positions. The marauder looked away awkwardly. </p><p>Vega noted his strange behavior, “Are you feeling any symptoms Mr. marauder? There was a hormone imbalance when your horns were growing and the painkillers have several side effects of their own.” </p><p>“Well maybe a few symptoms.” The blush only got redder and the tiniest bit of sweat dripped down the demon’s brow. A hot sticky feeling over took him and... other feelings.</p><p>“Well if you don’t mind allow me to run down the UAC symptoms list for rapid horn growth.” Vega paused for a moment as he pulled it up. </p><p>“Sure that’s fine Vega.” He was nervous as could be now, avoiding the glances of the Slayer every chance he got. Luckily, the man was only half awake.</p><p>“Fever, sweating, severe hunger, headache, rash, fits of anger, severe mood swings, sudden fatigue, increased sex drive, increased irritability, and very rarely instantaneous death.” Vega chuckled, “Oh the UAC repot logs. What a terrifying place. Anyways do you have any of these symptoms?”</p><p>“The first three and umm,” the marauder paused and mumbled the rest under his breath. </p><p>“Didn’t catch that last one.” Vega ran down through spreadsheets checking off symptoms. From what he gathered horn growth was something similar to a snake shedding its skin but with more hormones and complicated social implications-</p><p>“increased sex drive, ok?” He said it quietly but could tell by the moment of the Slayer’s helmet the man had heard. </p><p>“ok.” Vega would have facepalmed if he had a physical form. Don’t ask symptoms in a crowded room. A basic rule of human decency that his dumb ass had violated. </p><p>The Slayer looked up and stared at his worried, stubborn, refusing-to-make-eye-contact lover. He was obviously embarrassed, well really, everyone was. The man reached out and put a reassuring hand on the demon’s knee. </p><p>The marauder smiled down at him for a second before sighing and turning away, talking to himself mostly, “Nope, nope. Brain why are you going into the gutter?” </p><p>Suddenly the Slayer began to understand what that “symptom” actually meant. He took his hand off the demon and blushed. </p><p>The marauder scooted over to one end of the couch, allowing the Slayer to scurry off the floor. He felt so damn embarrassed and his brain was instantly running through a million and one “naughty” thoughts. “DAMMIT!” He stood up and staggered to the door. The symptoms were starting to take him over and he felt absolutely ravenous, plus he didn’t want to be around the Slayer. </p><p>The Slayer followed the demon’s rampage to the kitchen. Where he stood outside in the hallway while the marauder angrily ate a box of crackers. </p><p>The demon swore under his breath, trying to ignore the pains of hunger in his stomach and the Slayer watching him from the hallway. “I’m not a child. Don’t watch me.” He felt snippy and even worse another wave of a hot sticky fever washed over him. He wanted a hug from the Slayer but at the same time he didn’t want the man anywhere near him. Deep within his mind, he knew he was being bitchy but couldn’t help himself. </p><p>The man sprinted into the room, gave the demon a quick hug, and dashed back out. </p><p>“DON’T DO THAT!” The marauder punched the air where the man had stood to hug him. “Fuck you.” </p><p>It was Daisy’s turn now, She ran into the room and bit his foot, yanking him off the chair. </p><p>Luckily, he caught himself midair from falling and landed on his feet or hell would have been raised. “Daisy stop that! What the hell?” </p><p>Daisy growled more and continued yanking on his foot. She gave him a good pull and sent him falling on his ass. The sheer terror and giddiness of knocking the marauder down made her run around the kitchen like a maniac. </p><p>Standing up with a huff, he dusted off his pant legs. Another wave of fever almost sent him to his knees and made him stagger into the doorway. </p><p>The Slayer pinned him into the doorway, which kept him from running away or collapsing. </p><p>“Stop.” The demon sunk into his lover’s arms, his knees giving out. This flip flopping between sickness, anger, and uncomfortable passion was driving him half crazy.</p><p>Daisy stopped her rampage and sat down beside the lovers, then began weaving between their legs. </p><p>The Slayer held the demon tightly. He could feel the tension playing out inside the demon. Symptom after symptom rolled over him and the Slayer could only watch and wait. He wrapped an arm around the demon’s shoulders and helped him walk back down to the couch. The demon almost melted into the cushions of the couch as the Slayer laid him down. </p><p>Daisy crawled up onto the back of the couch and took up her perch of watching over the marauder once more. That’s what gargoyles did best, their natural instinct almost, to pick something and watch it. </p><p>“Wait, babe pull me up I want a kiss.” The marauder was already half passed out and reached out his hand to the man. </p><p>He reached past it, grabbing the marauder’s horns and yanking him upwards towards him. Except the man only managed to yank the clear coat of the marauder’s horns off. </p><p>Clear water like goo ran down the marauder’s face and he yelled out in pain. “OUCH fucking hell! That HURT!” He clutched at his exposed, sensitive horns.</p><p>The Slayer dropped the clear coating of the horns on the floor in a panic and tried to wipe the goo off his hands. Absolute sheer terror took him over and he waved his notebook at the ceiling, ‘Vega help I think I broke him!’ </p><p>Before Vega could chime in the marauder cut him off, “Get me a towel and some water.” The Slayer immediately dashed off and the marauder hollered after him, “hurry up this hurts like hell.” The sensitive coating over his horns that was supposed to shed off in days and had just been yanked off in one swoop. It wasn’t the Slayer’s fault of course, he didn’t harbor any malice against the demon. </p><p>The man came running back in with a bottle of water and two towels. ‘I got the stuff. I’m sorry did I hurt you?’</p><p>The marauder struggled and sat upright. His short snippy temper was tripled by being in pain, “No, it’s fine just help me, ok?” He paused for a moment processing the best he could through the pain fogging his thoughts, “Washing them off will help... umm... I’ll lean forwards you pour the water. Don’t fuck it up this time.” Instantly he regretted saying that and almost burst into tears. Grabbing both towels, he set one on the floor in front of him and stuffed the other in his mouth. </p><p>Daisy shimmied off the couch and sat between his legs, staring up at the demon. </p><p>Very gently and slowly, the Slayer poured some water; as soon as it hit his horns the demon tensed up. He didn’t feel upset that the marauder was snippy with him, just nervous and worried about the demon. </p><p>The pain he was in felt like lava being poured over his horns. Panicking, he reached out and grabbed the closest thing which happened to be Daisy and held her tight. She went limp in his big tense arms and gently nibbled his cheek. </p><p>Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of torture, it was over and there was no more water left in the bottle. The Slayer handed him a note, ‘Are you ok? What was that?’ </p><p>The marauder spat out the towel, sighing loudly. “Ok I’m only gonna explain this once before I pass out.” He held up one finger. “When a demon’s horns grow, it helps them attract... ya know mates. All the demon bitches love horns but your not a demon so you... don’t understand...” he paused,” wait I had a point... oh yea.” He clapped his hands together,” So they get upset and angry and sick then they shed their coating after several days of feeling sick. The coating keeps everything safe and not painful,” he motioned to his own horns with a scowl on his face and glared at the Slayer for a second before feeling guilty about snapping once more. “And then you get longer horns and hot bitches.” As if on cue he fell over and hit the couch cushion sleeping. </p><p>“Oh I have a feeling most of the time he only got longer horns.” Vega chimed down. </p><p>The Slayer fake gasped and whirled around to face the speakers, ‘Vega stop. You haven’t even ever done the deed with anyone.’</p><p>“I get all the robo AI pussy.” Vega chuckled.</p><p>‘VEGA NO.’ The Slayer covered his face in embarrassment after a second he glanced back up at him. ‘But could you explain how the horns work to me? Why did I pour water?’ </p><p>“Oh I’m assuming it’s a technique in hell similar to putting cold water on the area of a burn and allowing the wound, in this case horns, to wash out.” He ran through hundreds of UAC files, “I could be wrong of course. It’s all complicated and new to me.” They paused and sat in silence for a long time, “He must be very thankful for you. I can tell he dislikes pain of that sort and you seem to help him through it quite well. Don’t take his words to heart.” </p><p>‘Thanks Vega.’ The Slayer finally sat down on the floor. ‘Do you think he meant what he said? I did mess him up.’</p><p>“He loves you, that is evident. I don’t believe he meant what he said at all.” Vega watched the man’s solemn face  under the glass of his helmet. </p><p>‘This has been stressful. I don’t like to admit that. I don’t like seeing him hurt or act this weird.’ </p><p>Vega was taken aback that the Slayer was being this open with him, “I know Slayer. Seeing your loved ones in situations of peril is something you’ll never get used to. I’ve learnt a few techniques to handle it well.”</p><p>‘Like what?’ </p><p>“When you go on missions I try my best to keep busy sorting files. Distractions are what keep me sane.” </p><p>The Slayer fiddled with his fingers and nodded. ‘Yeah. What should I do?’ </p><p>“Perhaps work on your armor? Or tidy up the bedroom and workbench? There’s a few things.” </p><p>‘Ok I‘ll try it.’ He stood and shuffled over to his armor in a sad, heavy-hearted way. The whole suit was splayed out on the workbench, luckily, it was clean so he only had to hammer out some kinks and dents. As he grabbed a little hammer and got to work, Daisy leapt up onto the workbench, watching him intently. </p><p>She wandered if one day he’d make armor for her, but for now he was busy with his lover. Sometimes she felt lonely, but this time she understood that the marauder needed him more than she did. Glancing over his shoulder, she watched the demon sleep. Never had she seen him suffer like that but the Slayer was there to save the day. She titled her head at the man and stared into his face. </p><p>The Slayer grabbed her head and shoved a helmet over it. She chirped and began wiggling, trying to back up. Then, he clicked it into place and she could see. </p><p>The little demon quit struggling and stood staring at her Slayer. </p><p>He held up a note in front of her, ‘That’s my old helmet for my old suit. You can keep it if you want. Protect your noggin a bit.’ </p><p>Daisy began chirping and bobbing her head, wrapping her blades around the man in a hug. </p><p>‘Yay you like it!’ The man chuckled and lifted up his own helmet to kiss her forehead, ‘I’m glad, kiddo.’ He glanced back at his dear lover passed out on the couch with a brand spanking new pair of horns. They were pretty. He smiled to himself and continued to hammer his armor long into the night.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Halloween is tomorrow hope you all have a great day with your friends and family! Eat plenty of candy!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>(Dear god I’m so sleepy it’s almost midnight.)</p><p>Enjoy the fic!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The marauder had woken up and dragged himself to the kitchen. To say he felt groggy was an understatement. His limbs were jelly. His mind was... well also jelly. Everything had a jelly-ish vibe to it. Trying his best to ignore it, he started eating a breakfast, well it may have been lunch of course, random cereal and milk that was probably not rancid. As he munched on the food he thought back to the absolute mess yesterday had been. Had he really said, “increased sex drive,” to poor Vega? God he was such an idiot. For a long time he sat at the kitchen table swirling his spoon around in the cereal. </p><p>"It will get mushy if you do that." Vega chimed in. He felt equally guilty of yesterday. It was rude of him to ask symptoms in a room full of people. Hell, it violated the proper code of conduct between patients and doctors. Not to mention the messed up dosage. The marauder had to suffer for his mistake. That made him feel absolutely terrible as an AI he was supposed to help, never harm. </p><p>“Could we just pretend yesterday never happened?” The demon hung his head in absolute misery. </p><p>“Of course Mr. marauder.” Vega didn’t completely purge the memory, since it did hold scientific value, but he tucked it into the back of his database. Of course, he made sure to remember the hug the Slayer and Daisy had given him. </p><p>“Thanks Vega. I’m sorry about how much of a idiot I was.” He poured out the cereal in the sink and went to set the bowl on the mound of dirty dishes the Slayer had amassed over millennia of living like a bachelor, but they weren’t there. He shrugged and set the bowl on the counter. In fact the whole kitchen was clean, not amazingly clean but still decent. </p><p>“Oh please you’re not an idiot. If you want to talk about idiots I’ll tell you all about the UAC scientist’s dumb requests.”</p><p>“But they are scientists they have to be smart.” The marauder began walking through the fortress, hunting for his lover, while talking to Vega. </p><p>“No, no, there were some that were absolue dipshits,” Vega chuckled at his swear word and continued ranting about their antics.</p><p>The marauder turned a corner and spotted his lover bent over on his hands and knees wiping at some grime on the floor with a rag. He cleared his throat, getting the attention of the man, “Hey I’m so sorry about yesterday-“ </p><p>The Slayer quickly stood, scribbled in his notebook, and shoved it in the demon’s face, ‘How are you? Do your horns hurt? I’m sorry for hurting you.’ </p><p>“What?” The marauder grabbed at his horns, “Oh no, they are fine. Honestly, I deserved that. I said so many rude, terrible things to you and you don’t deserve that.” </p><p>‘I don’t care I was worried about you. Thanks for the apology though.’ He reached out and caressed the marauder’s face ever so gently. ‘I love you even when stuff like that happens, you know that.’ </p><p>He pulled the man in for a hug, “God, you’re so freaking adorable, but... umm could we forget yesterday even happened?”</p><p>‘Gladly, that was awkward.’ The man squeezed his lover tight. ‘Hey I have a plan. Do you think you’re up for it?’</p><p>“What are you planning?” He pulled back from the Slayer, suddenly a bit fearful. The man was a bit of a loose cannon. A plan could mean date night or fighting the armies of hell of half an eternity. </p><p>‘Me and Vega found a small group of demons, just a quick mission.’ The man tensed up as his mind filled with images of demons being shredded. </p><p>“That sounds fine.” He took a step back, allowing his boyfriend plenty of room to rage. It was easy to see the man was running high of the mere thought of bloodlust. </p><p>The man clenched his fists. The allure of death called to him like a siren’s song, whispering hellish things into his mind. It wanted him to unfurl and go berserk, to finally let hell take him and then destroy hell from the inside out. The swamping love of bloodlust made him miss carving out the intestines of imps. He was their DO-</p><p>A drop of water felt from the ceiling onto his shaking fist, completely distracting him. He focused on the tiny bead of water and the feel of it running down his hand. Lifting his hand up to his face, he watched the bead intently. Pausing for a moment, it bunched up at his scarred knuckles before dripping down his index finger, falling to the floor. </p><p>“So...” the marauder stood an arm’s length away, but managed to force himself to walk closer. He clapped the man on his shoulder, “Rip and Tear?”</p><p>The Slayer nodded and scribbled a note. The letters were bold and firm, ‘Until it is done.’ </p><p>Daisy, who had been hiding behind a corner, leaped out and ran over to them chirped and chattering with the sheer excitement of hunting demons with her Slayer. </p><p>The marauder snorted and started laughing at the little demon, “Why are you wearing the Slayer’s helmet?” </p><p>‘I gave it to her to help her stay safe.’ As the man finished speaking, Daisy wandered over to the marauder. </p><p>He reached down and petted her armored head, “It looks great.”</p><p>Vega put on some music while they prepared. The BFG division of course, for there was no more fitting music than this. In a way Vega used its beats to calm himself, but he knew it would rile the males, and Daisy, up, in a sort of testosterone fueled anthem of death. </p><p>Charming isn’t it?</p><p>Grabbing it off his workbench, the Slayer donned his praetor suit with an excited grin under his helmet. Then, he went into the bedroom and grabbed a gift for the marauder. </p><p>The demon was suiting up as well, clamping armor into place and doing buckles with his skilled hands. He was interrupted by a tapping on his shoulder and whirled around to face the Slayer holding his argent energy axe. </p><p>Slowly, the man held up a note, ‘Do you promise to use this only for killing demons?’</p><p>He stood there dumbfounded and impressed. The Slayer hadn’t let love cloud his judgment and made sure to hide his axe from him. “Of course, I know what you’re implying, but I’d never hurt you.” The familiar weight of it in his hands made him go dizzy with joy. </p><p>His axe was a fine peice of machinery. It gave him speed, a shield, it could summon his very own Lucifer’s bane shotgun, and most importantly it summoned his precious pet, “Haru, come to me.” He gave his axe a quick shake. </p><p>Daisy chattered nervously and hid<br/>behind the monitors of the Slayer’s gaming set up. </p><p>In a flash of orange light his wolf appeared. Haru sprinted towards his owner and tackled him to the floor, licking his face and wagging his tail in absolute joy. </p><p>Now that the Slayer wasn’t being ruthlessly hunted by the creature, he could appreciate the wolf’s fluffy fur coat and the way its tail wagged ever so happily. He paused and looked around for his lovely little demon. </p><p>Daisy was perched on his desk hiding behind the monitors, growling low and menacing. </p><p>The marauder practically was giggling as Haru nibbled at his armor. “Aww I missed you too little man. You wanna meet the Slayer? Huh lil man?” </p><p>Haru whipped his head around in an unnatural motion. Slowly he began snarling as he turned to face the Slayer. In all aspects, he looked satanic, his face twisted in an growl, saliva and foam dripping from his mouth, the bastard wolf only needed devil horns and a pitchfork to complete the look. </p><p>The man backed up and readied his Doom blade for combat. </p><p>“Haru stop.” The marauder grabbed the wolf’s scruff and yanked him into his arms. He held him tightly and motioned the Slayer to come closer. “He don’t bite.” </p><p>Shaking his head, the Slayer lingered back. He wasn’t an expert on dogs but dang that creature looked like it would bite. </p><p>Between the Daisy’s and Haru’s growling the whole room sounded like a den of wolves. It set the Slayer on edge and threatened to tip him over. He activated the Doom blade and smashed it down onto the table, an ear splitting “nails on a chalkboard” type noise echoed into their ears. Everyone shut up and let the DoomSlayer think for a moment. </p><p>His first line of action was grabbing Daisy out from behind the monitor and hugging her to his chest. She gazed up into his face, still fully adorned in his helmet. ‘She need armor. Vega start the printer and make some.’ </p><p>Vega turned down the music, “Of course sir.” </p><p>‘And you...’ the Slayer allowed Daisy to leap out of his arms and knelt down beside the marauder, who was still on the floor hugging Haru tight. ‘Does dog bite?’ </p><p>“Probably not.” The marauder looked down at his beastly friend unsure. “Here let him sniff your hand.” </p><p>The Slayer cast a nervous glance at the marauder and hesitantly extended his hand into the vicinity of the beast’s wrath. </p><p>The wolf sniffed the man’s hand and relaxed in the marauder’s arms. Then, he began licking the man’s hands with ferocity. </p><p>“Haru what are you doing?” The marauder let go of his precious lil man, allowing him free range. </p><p>Haru simply ignored the demon and continued licking the hand. Then, he growled and tried to bite the Slayer. </p><p>The man recoiled too fast for the wolf and reached for his shotgun on the workbench. Rage coiled through his body. How dare that wolf, he refused to accept it had a name, try and attack him? </p><p>The marauder grabbed Haru, “No! Bad Haru! What the hell was that?” </p><p>Haru snarled right into his face. What was his owner doing? The Slayer, their mortal enemy, was RIGHT there! Haru knew he could take him. Had the marauder gone soft? </p><p>“Listen.” The demon pulled Haru onto his lap and petted his head, “The Slayer isn’t our foe anymore. He’s actually really nice. So you definitely can’t try and rip his throat out, ok?” </p><p>The wolf blinked, completely dumbfounded by what was happening to his dear owner and friend. He turned to face the now armed Slayer who’s finger rested near the trigger of his super shotgun. Well... he supposed he should apologize. Whining and wriggling out of the marauder’s arms, he padded over to the Slayer with his tail between his legs and, in the ultimate act of submission, rolled over and exposed his belly to the hulking armored man. </p><p>The man leaned down and scratched the wolf’s chest. He seemed to greatly accept the act of submission. A rumble of joy echoed through his chest. </p><p>The marauder smiled at his lover and best friend getting along, “Good boy Haru!”</p><p>Haru was still confused as to why he wasn’t ripping apart the Slayer on the command of his owner, but he shrugged it off and submitted... for now. </p><p>The Slayer held up a note to Vega, ‘How long till Daisy’s armor is made?’ </p><p>“I estimate one hour. You will have to wait until it’s completed before you leave. I do not recommend allowing Daisy to go unarmored.” He tried to squash the feeling of joy that the Slayer would be out of harm’s way for a while longer. There were people suffering. He shouldn’t think so selfishly. </p><p>‘We have time to rest and get ready then.’ </p><p>The marauder whistled and immediately Haru disappeared in a flash of orange light. The Slayer was slightly unnerved by the fact that he could simply make the wolf disappear. The last flecks of orange sparks floated to the ground and dissolved. </p><p>Daisy chirped and scurried over, sniffing the ground and trying to figure out where the hell Haru went. Letting out a low growl, she scratched at the ground with her blades. Haru was right there ten seconds ago. Where did he go? She ran around the room sticking her head in every crevice to find the wolf. </p><p>The marauder clutched his axe close and chuckled at Daisy’s panicked screeches. “Daisy, Haru rests in the axe.” He held it out to her, “he’s fine, just sleeping.” </p><p>She ran over and gave the axe a sniff. Despite working closely with the marauder as his messenger, she never saw where Haru actually disappeared to. It calmed her to know he was safe and she stopped going crazy. </p><p>The Slayer motioned for Daisy to sit on the couch and motioned again for Vega to put on an action film. </p><p>The AI was confused but obeyed, watching as the Slayer bundled the little demon up and patted her helmet. She purred and chirped with glee. </p><p>Then, the Slayer walked back over to the marauder, carefully grabbing the demon’s hand and pulling him along. </p><p>He obeyed and followed the Slayer into the bedroom. They both sat down on the foot of the bed, legs dangling off the edge. He looked over at his armored lover, “Wanna kiss?” </p><p>The Slayer turned towards him and nodded with glee. He motioned for the demon to wait, and stood up, stripping out of his armor and the black mesh suit underneath till he was only in his boxers. </p><p>The marauder grinned at the man and did the same taking off the armor he had suited up in. Sure being in just boxers was a tad awkward with what had happened earlier, but the Slayer didn’t seem to mind too much. </p><p>The Slayer held up a note, ‘armor not good for snuggling.’ </p><p>The marauder flopped back on the bed and shimmied under the covers, patting the spot next to him motioning for his lover to lie beside him, “It’s cold without it.” </p><p>‘It’s more of a freezer of doom than a fortress of doom.’ </p><p>The marauder snorted at the pathetic pun, “Oh you big doofus come here so I can kiss you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>TW for smut in the next chapter. It’s about as fluffed up as I can make it but I figured I’d mention it to make sure you guys are good with it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TW: Smut, nothing super explicit but read at your own risk.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Slayer hopped into bed and curled up beside the marauder, tucking his head under the demon’s chin and wrapping his legs around the demon’s hips. The marauder let out a contented sigh and wrapped his arms protectively around his boyfriend’s back. No matter what happened in the coming hours he wouldn’t let anything happen to the Slayer. Placing a gentle kiss on the forehead of the man’s helmet, the demon smiled to himself. Life could be chaotic, but it was the little moments that he made sure to cherish.</p>
<p>The Slayer knew they should rest, after all they would be fighting demons in only a few hours, but he couldn’t resist his want for more kisses. Wiggling out of the demon’s grasp, the Slayer forced the marauder on his back and straddled his chest, pulling up his helmet to kiss the demon. </p>
<p>The marauder rolled his head back with a soft mumble and let his hands slowly wander over the man. He made sure to touch every inch of the Slayer he could get his hands on, mapping out his thighs and hips. They trailed up his chest then spiraled down again, brushing over his thighs and gently squeezing his butt. </p>
<p>The Slayer paused for a second and felt a red hot blush burn across his face. A casual touch he would have thrown off as accidental and ignored it, but this was intentional and it made him excited. He didn’t know what to say or do; he only stared into the marauder’s face, looking for an answer. </p>
<p>“Are you ok with this?” Cocking his head to the side, the marauder removed his hands for a second. The Slayer had paused and didn’t seem too into it so he didn’t want to push his luck. He respectfully put his hands down at his side and waited for the Slayer. </p>
<p>The Slayer stopped and considered for a moment. He liked the intimacy of the action and decided to follow his heart not his brain. Nodding yes, he grabbed the marauder’s hands and put them back on his legs. Then, he leaned forwards, wrapping his arms around the demon and gently kissing the side of his neck. </p>
<p>He chuckled and continued wandering around, feeling up his muscular back and shoulders. Then, down his biceps and forearm before finally finishing by weaving his fingers into the Slayer’s. The sheer magic of being so intimate made his heart pound. </p>
<p>Squeezing the demon’s hand, the Slayer slowly stopped kissing the marauder and snuggled his head into the crook of the demon’s neck. Relaxing in the demon’s grip, feelings of safety and warmth drifted through his mind. </p>
<p>The marauder untangled his fingers and squeezed the man’s ass again, “You’re beautiful. You know that, right?” </p>
<p>The Slayer sat up, his blush turning his face bright red, and looked away. </p>
<p>“You don’t believe me?” </p>
<p>The Slayer nodded. He had never considered or thought himself to be beautiful. Well, that subject never came up when hunting demons so it didn’t interest him much. </p>
<p>The marauder gave the man a little grin and was about to describe how he felt about him, but he made the mistake of looking down. Now it was the marauder’s turn to blush, for he was staring at the outline of the barrel the Slayer’s “BFG” through his boxers. With his train of thought completely and utterly derailed, he just made a squeak of surprise and stared. </p>
<p>The man looked down and immediately realized what had caught the demon’s attention.  climbing off of him and awkwardly shutting his legs, he guiltily scribbled a note and handed it to the demon, ‘Sorry.” While he knew what a boner was, he didn’t understand much about it and was too embarrassed to ask anyone. </p>
<p>“Wait no! Don’t run off.” The marauder propped himself up on his elbows. “It just surprised me. It wasn’t your fault. I mean...” the marauder shrugged and did his nervous over-explaining thing, “Well it’s only an idea... but if me and you... uhhh... UHHH...” </p>
<p>‘Sex?’</p>
<p>The word scribbled on a piece of a paper made the demon go absolutely red, “Oh wow that’s the actual word. I was gonna say horizontal mambo.” The marauder chuckled awkwardly.</p>
<p>Rubbing the back of his neck, the man sat half on and half off the bed. He knew that pleasure was a sin and refused to take part in such an act but just one time wasn’t bad, right? He didn’t know much about the sin of pleasure, and most of the time he was too terrified to learn more. Names and vague church approved definitions were his full knowledge on the subject. It had always seemed strictly bad, but doing the act with the marauder sounded absolutely wonderful. So, he slowly nodded a “yes” to the marauder’s advances. </p>
<p>The marauder grabbed his butt extraordinarily gently and guided him back onto the bed, leaving plenty of time for the Slayer to object or resist. His main priority was going at a pace that was ok with the man. </p>
<p>The man let the demon guide him into place. The marauder gently helped him toss a leg over his own hips. Now, the Slayer was standing on knees, straddling the demon’s hips. </p>
<p>The marauder was sizing up the distance between their crotches and scooted the man’s hips closer to him, “Here you can sit down now.”</p>
<p>The man sat down on the marauder’s  lower abs and chuckled, ‘Oh.’</p>
<p>The marauder burst into laugher, “Ok too far. Here move down.” </p>
<p>There was a bit of shuffling on the Slayer’s part. ‘Did I get it now?’ </p>
<p>The marauder thought for a second, trying to think of a way not to sound rude. “Still farther down. It’s ok I can help you.” He reached up, touching the man’s bulge and guiding it to contact his own. </p>
<p>A sharp exhale escaped the Slayer and he looked down at their crotches together. The feeling of the marauder’s “BFG” through the demon’s boxers sent pleasure ringing through his mind. </p>
<p>“Does that feel ok?” The marauder glanced down to make sure they were on each other’s sweet spots then, smiled up at the Slayer. </p>
<p>He smiled back down at him still in shock from the glorious feeling, ‘yeah it feels good, really good. What do we do now? Is this sex?’ </p>
<p>The marauder chuckled, “Not yet. We gotta like... move around.” The only experience the marauder had with this sort of thing was a few glory holes in the walls of hell. He always wondered what was on the other side of them, but it was hell so he imagined it wasn’t anything he’d want to see...</p>
<p>While he had gotten sidetracked thinking about hell, the Slayer moved his hips from side to side, testing out this scandalous “moving around” tactic. </p>
<p>Snapping out of his daydreams, the demon subconsciously rolled his hips into the man crotch. Grinding against him felt better than anything the marauder had ever experienced in his life. His head rolled back, impaling the pillow with his horns, and he whined out, “Oh yes~!”</p>
<p>The Slayer rumbled with a satisfied noise. He felt the marauder grab his ass and guide his hips using his strong hands in a rocking motion that made the Slayer’s thighs shake with sheer unrestrained ecstasy. </p>
<p>If was a strange feeling the Slayer shake and gasp from something he was doing, it was even humbling. Stopping the rocking, he held the man’s hips firmly in place, and began thrusting into his crotch. </p>
<p>The Slayer cried out at the sudden act. Leaning forward, he became a gasping, moaning mess. He clutched the marauder’s shoulders, digging his fingers into the demon’s flesh, and held on like his life depended on it. A tingle ran up his spine, making him moan and cry out once more. </p>
<p>The marauder grinned like a devil at how fast the man was unraveling. It fueled his ego like nothing else could to see the Slayer so weak, so open, so vulnerable. He kept the pace up and quickened it just a bit. </p>
<p>A fiery knot began forming in the man’s lower abdomen. His back arched, and he straightened his arms, pushing the marauder into the bed. His voice was of the edge of hoarseness from his gasps and moans. In a passionate panic, he reached out and grabbed one of the marauder’s hands off his ass, and he wound his fingers between the demon’s. All sorts of strange, absolutely pitiful sounding noises escaped his helmet. </p>
<p>The marauder felt the man twitch and quiver. In the smoothest voice he could muster through his passion he moaned out, “Let me help you<br/>Slayer...” Despite his thighs and back beginning to tire, he wanted to have the satisfaction of driving the Slayer over the edge. </p>
<p>The man was close, teetering on the brink of ecstasy. He was reduced a gasping figure, dependent on the marauder’s thrusts. His lower abdomen begged, no it demanded, for buildup of pleasure to be released. Finally, it hit him like a brick. Unrelenting pleasure made his body shake and unravel in the marauder arms. His thighs vibrated and his back arched one last time during their passionate session. The release made his vision blurry with pleasure. Immediately, he felt dizzy and light headed. Blacking out for half a second, he fell forwards, almost smashing his armored forehead right into the marauder’s  nose. </p>
<p>The marauder moved his head at the very last second to avoid a concussion. The Slayer had collapsed on him as if he were dead. Wiggled out from underneath him, he checked for a pulse. </p>
<p>He started to panic, but luckily the man opened his eyes with a loud groan. </p>
<p>“You scared me! Oh god.” The marauder hugged the groggy man, and he crawled back underneath the covers, holding the shaking, moaning, and half-dead with pleasure man tightly. </p>
<p>He managed to scribbled a note, ‘Felt so good I got dizzy. Sorry if I scared you.’</p>
<p>“No don’t be sorry. I’m glad you’re ok.” He relaxed and let go of the man, propping himself up on one elbow and tracing the Slayer’s muscled back with his free hand. </p>
<p>The man sighed at the loving touch and wrote down another note, ‘Did you feel good too?’ </p>
<p>What little pleasure he had gotten from the experience had immediately been forgotten by the chaos. “Not necessarily but we shouldn’t push risking you faint again. Don’t you fight armies of demons? How did you faint?” The marauder lovingly teased him. </p>
<p>‘It was my first time! I was a little nervous too!’ The Slayer refused to feel like he had given the marauder the short stick of this deal. ‘Please let me do something for you.’ </p>
<p>The marauder actually considered doing something for a second. Then, chuckled and flicked the Slayer’s armored forehead, “No, you little seductress!”</p>
<p>‘GODDAMMIT LET ME LOVE YOU!’ The Slayer was laughing at how wacky this has become. He still felt weak and fuzzy. Reaching out, he wrapped his arms around the demon’s chest, dragging him back down to the bed. He paused, ‘how long was that?’</p>
<p>The marauder wrapped his legs around him and tried not to laugh, “about a minute or so.“</p>
<p>‘Is that good or bad?’</p>
<p>The demon kissed the top of the man’s head. “You’ll get better at it darling.” In the demon’s opinion it was absolutely adorable that he was the DoomSlayer’s, the bane of all demon’s, and the demi-god of rage’s first time. </p>
<p>‘I love you.’ </p>
<p>“I love you too.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This fic will have some more scenes like this but there will be plenty of fluff for people who are uncomfortable with smut. </p>
<p>Also I’m gonna bump the rating of the fic up to explicit just to make sure no one gets surprised by it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Happy Thanksgiving! Even it you don’t celebrate it I’ll still save you a piece of pumpkin pie :D</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>An hour or so after their activities, the Slayer stirred, untangling himself from the marauder. </p><p>The demon whined, “Wait where are you going?” </p><p>The Slayer kissed the demon’s forehead and handed him a note before walked off into the bathroom, ‘We are gonna leave soon. Gotta clean up.’ </p><p>“Ok.” Glancing down at all the Slayer’s notes that dotted the sheets from the earlier, he picked a few up and read through them, stumbling upon his favorite note: ‘GODDAMMIT LET ME LOVE YOU!’ </p><p>Begrudgingly crawling out of the comfort of bed, he fumbled with his armor and suited up again. Of course, he hadn’t forgotten about the Slayer, and he grabbed the man new boxers out of the dresser by the bed, opening the door a crack and tossing them into the bathroom. </p><p>Before he could even turn away a note slipped out from underneath the door, ‘Thanks babe!’ </p><p>“It’s no problem,” looking down at the notes held carefully in his palms, he made a little vow to protect them. If Samuel ever chimed into the bedroom and found them he would pester the Slayer to no end. He opened one of the pouches on his belt, carefully tucked them all inside, and closed it before someone could chime into the room. He wasn’t even able to give the pouch a tender pat before he was snapped out of his daze by a scratching at the door. As the demon opened the door to the bedroom, he was immediately tackled by a shaking, crying Daisy who was running so fast she almost made him lose his balance. “What’s wrong?” </p><p>The poor gargoyle was only able to whimper and look over her shoulder at a scary movie playing on the television. </p><p>Rolling his eyes, he walked over to the TV, with Daisy following close behind, and shut it off with an exaggerated movement. “Did you get scared by a movie? You know they aren’t real.” </p><p>Daisy made more pitiful noises, hugging his armored legs while begging to get picked up. </p><p>He couldn’t fight against her whines and scooped her up in his strong arms. The feeling of her pressing her forehead against the underside of his chin made him crack a smile; he bounced her ever so slightly, rubbing her back with his free hand. “Shhh...” Letting himself get lost in the gentle rocking, he closed his eyes and listened to her cute little chirps. </p><p>After a few tender moments between the two, Daisy quieted down and allowed the marauder to put her on the floor once more. </p><p>The Slayer stood in the doorway of the bedroom, grinning at his two favorite demons getting along. While sometimes they could squabble, the two always came together in the end. Turning his attention to the TV, he held up a note to Vega, ‘what did she watch that made her afraid?’ </p><p>Pausing for a second, the AI skimmed through the list of previous movies, “ I believe it was the movie ‘It’. There is a clown and a variety of frightening images. It’s no wonder she was frightened.” Vega felt pity for the sweet little demon. </p><p>“That doesn’t even sound scary. What kind of name is ‘It’ anyways?” Reaching his hands around the back of the TV pressing the power button, he was greeted with a creepy silence for a few seconds; then, a screech and jump-scare of a bloody clown. He jumped backwards from the screen and fell on his ass screaming, “HOLYYY FUCKK!”</p><p>Daisy shrieked and darted behind the Slayer. </p><p>The Slayer laughed at the sight of such a powerful, buff being getting jump-scared by a clown. </p><p>Vega quickly shut the movie off, “Sorry Mr. marauder I should have been monitoring the TV. It’s my fau-“</p><p>He collected himself and shook his head, “Vega you have to run this whole ship it’s not your fault! Don’t apologize.” </p><p>The Slayer walked over to the marauder and helped the demon stand up, fussing over him like a mother hen. ‘Did you get hurt?’ </p><p>“I’m fine dear.” He kissed the man’s armored head. “Let’s go put Daisy’s armor together so we can head out.” </p><p>He nodded and hurried over to the workbench. Bit and pieces of armor were scattered everywhere, an unorganized mess of 3D printed parts to the marauder, but the Slayer knew immediately what pieces went together and in a few minutes it was completed. </p><p>Daisy excitedly ran over to the armor and was chirping happily. The man had to pin her squirming body down and hold her in place to suit her up in the armor. Of course, it was only a dull grey color due to the lack of a paint job. </p><p>The marauder was still confused by the hidden clips and magnets that held the armor together even after the Slayer had tried to explain three times. In his mind buckles were and always would be superior and sexier. </p><p>Finally the last magnet clip went into place and Daisy leapt off the workbench and sprinted towards the main room, whining at Vega to open up the portal on the deck. </p><p>They both followed her, with the same vigor in their steps. The Slayer had his full arsenal, minus the combat shotgun Daisy was using, hidden in the pocket dimension on his belt. The marauder had his axe swung over his shoulder and was walking with enough swagger to fight god.</p><p>Vega chimed down from the ceiling as the portal opened, “This isn’t a vital mission but there are still some tasks to complete. First and foremost, remove all demonic corruption. Second, search the area for any signs of life. Finally, I may have spotted a supermarket on satellite images. We would be able to restock the supplies.”</p><p>The two males nodded and began walking towards the portal. The marauder stepped through first, and the Slayer followed him through a second after, right alongside Daisy. </p><p>The uncomfortable pulling sensation of the portal threatened to make the Slayer lose his lunch. After a few moments, they were through. </p><p>The landscape looked like any other hell ravaged city. It seemed to have avoided the brunt of the invasion for a few intact buildings still stood. Luckily no giant creepy tentacles or gore nests. </p><p>The demons seemed to relax in the horrible rotting heat that rolled off the piles of flaming rubble. The Slayer noticed and made a mental note to crank up the heat in the fortress for them. The man walked over to the marauder and handed him a note, ‘I won’t be able to speak with you while I’m fighting.’ </p><p>“Yeah, I was worrying about that.” The marauder reached down and squeezed the man hand. “You’ll be able to use hand signals like ‘come here’ and stuff though.”</p><p>The Slayer nodded and squeezed his hand back. The two males walked behind the extremely excited and armored Daisy who was attempting to balance her shotgun in her grip. </p><p>She chirped happily and walked up a set of stairs that led into a building. As soon as she reached the top step, she looked over her shoulder and another gargoyle tackled her, shoving her out a view. </p><p>The Slayer broke out in a frantic sprint. Reaching the top of the stairs, he rounded the corner and saw Daisy simply tenderly sniffing the other gargoyle’s face. The marauder ran after close behind. “Is she ok-“ </p><p>The two made chirps and clicks back and forth to each other and clinked their mandibles together. Daisy had a significant heigh difference over the newcomer and her gray armor made her tower over him entirely. </p><p>The marauder leaned over, “I think the gargoyle is a male. They tend to be smaller than the females.” </p><p>The Slayer’s mouth quirked into a smile under his helmet when he heard the marauder. He knew it was a battlefield, but he couldn’t help but dote on his lover. He nodded and stared at the two not sure if he should intervene. If Daisy didn’t want to kill her own kind he wouldn’t force her, that would be sick and twisted beyond what he could ever do, but he’d still have to kill gargoyles. His worrying was interrupted by Daisy pulling away from the male and staring at the Slayer. Then, she pointed down a hallway of a building, wiggling her blade. </p><p>“You want us to go?” The marauder gave Daisy a confused look. </p><p>Daisy darted forwards, flipped her helmet up, and nipped at his ankles. </p><p>He tried to smack the little demon away, “Fine you little bastard demon we will leave you alone. Come on babe.” He intertwined his fingers with the Slayer’s and they walked along the hallways until they were a few rooms away.</p><p>‘That was weird.’ </p><p>“She bit my ankles.” The marauder leaned up against the wall and took his boots off, examining his ankles. </p><p>‘You have three inch thick armor protecting your ankles. I’m sure she didn’t intent to hurt you.’ </p><p>“Well it was mostly scary, having her charge at me like that. Why would she attack me?” He put his boots back on once he checked there was no broken skin. </p><p>‘It’s ok she just wanted us outta there. No hard feelings.’ He lifted his helmet to reveal his mouth and stood on his tiptoes to kiss the marauder’s forehead. </p><p>“Thanks,” he smiled down, “Should we head out and leave her behind or stay and wait?” </p><p>‘We’ll head out, but we won’t go too far.’ The man patted the demon’s shoulder and walked out of the room, wandering around a bit before he found an exit that took them to the outside. The Slayer took out his double barreled shotgun and loaded it, snapping it together with a satisfying ‘click.’</p><p>The ground was dotted with demons, and the half destroyed infrastructure of a parking garage above them acted as a wonderful high ground. The Slayer grinned, this really would be a piece of cake. It was like a fodder arena. A revenant and some mancubi were the only truly hard demons milling about in the vicinity. </p><p>Charging towards the demon with the love of his life by his side, his heart thrummed with happiness. They snuck and crawled their way into the second story of the parking garage. The marauder went to leap down into the fray but was stopped by the man with a firm outstretched arm. In a smooth motion that had been perfected by his decades of fighting, he reached down to his side, summoned his heavy cannon, and changed the mod on it. He knelt down to steady his arms. Aiming down the sights, he took out the arm cannons on the mancubi and the shoulder rockets on the revenant. </p><p>The demons screeched and panicked at the fiery lead raining down from above, peppering their weak spots with wounds. The revenant let out an unholy screech and pointed an accusing claw at the Slayer perched in the concrete ruins above. The demons swarmed below the Slayer in such numbers that mancubi began accidentally trampling smaller zombies that got underfoot in an attempt to get to their hated foe. </p><p>“Oh, clever.” The demon stared down at his lover in fear and awe as he learned the tricks to the man’s morbid trade. </p><p>The man nodded and once again stopped the marauder from his charge forth. Immediately, he shot an ice bomb; then he paused for only a second to put away his heavy cannon and replace it with his super shotgun. Tossing frag grenades into the icy fray, he leaped down to the floor and fired a few rounds into them. </p><p>The marauder jumped in after him and followed his lead, blasting gaping holes into the mancubi’s stomachs with his shotgun. Their faces twisted in horror but they still couldn’t move to fight back against the onslaught. </p><p>The Slayer grinned under his helmet. This was what he lived for. Absolute carnage and slaughter. </p><p>The horde of demons, now unfrozen and half in number, howled in confusion. They didn’t understand. How and why was the marauder working with the Slayer. The revenant left shook its head, pointed its bony hand at the marauder, and let out an accusing screech. </p><p>Vega chimed into the Slayer’s helmet, turning on and cranking up the BFG division. He blasted the music out of the speakers in the armor so the marauder and the demons could hear.</p><p>The marauder howled like a berserker and charged at the fray, axe swinging and heart pounding. He hacked the revenant to pieces, forcing the argent blade to glide through bone as if it were butter. Giving his axe a shake, he summoned Haru to his side. “Haru take care of the imps!”</p><p>The wolf howled and charged after the poor dozen or so demons that were frozen in fear. </p><p>Only one mancubus remained, but the hulking beast was pissed. The creature was easily a few heads taller than an average mancubus. The pulsing, oozing heart that was exposed by its chest began glowing. It pointed its arm cannons at both the Slayer and marauder, releasing a wave of hell fire upon the two. </p><p>Dodging the flames by leaping in the air like a damn ballerina, the Slayer landed on his feet and charged the beast. In one beautiful sweeping arc of his Doomblade, he emptied the guts of the demon onto the floor and all over himself. </p><p>Normal guts are nasty, but lord pray for the poor soul that gets mancubus guts on them. They boil and stink worse than anything the mortal mind can imagine. </p><p>The marauder charged over to congratulate the Slayer on their victory, but instead he stopped dead, “Oh god, you stink!” </p><p>The Slayer held his arms out and tried to shake the goo off his armor. Looking up at the marauder, he silently pleaded for help. Most of the time it took hours for him to clean dried mancubus off his armor and even longer for Vega to clean up the fortress when he trailed through it to get to his shower. </p><p>Haru bounded over to him, tail wagging, and began licking the gore off his armor. </p><p>The Slayer shook his head and showed Haru a note, ‘No licking my armor.’ </p><p>Stopping, the wolf carefully looked at the note, thoughtfully scanning over the words. Then, he realized he couldn’t read and it didn’t matter what was on the note, but before could even get one more lick in he dissolved into a pile of orange sparks. </p><p>“Looks like he ran out of energy. We’ll have to wait to summon him again.” He sighed and patted his axe, “Good job Haru. I’ll miss you. Rest up.” After he finished speaking to Haru, he spotted a fire hydrant half buried in the rubble and looked at the Slayer with a face that could only be described as completely and total smugness, “I have an idea, you stinky bastard.” He pointed and made the Slayer stand in front of it. Raising his axe above his head like an executioner, he cut off the side of the hydrant, blasting the man with a jet of water that shot him across the room. </p><p>The man landed rather violently on the ground with an “oomph” noise, but luckily he was somewhat clean. The worst of the goo was in a puddle on the floor at least it wasn’t still on him. </p><p>“Ta da!” The marauder did a little dance of happiness and walked over to the Slayer to help him up, which the man gladly accepted. </p><p>Daisy came scurrying down from the ceiling with the small male trailing her. She obediently sat at the Slayer’s feet, firmly grasping the combat shotgun in her armored blades. </p><p>The Slayer made a face and turned to the marauder, ‘Another demon?’ </p><p>“He’s cute and tiny. Let’s keep him for her sake.” The marauder grinned at the Slayer and walked behind the man, hugging him and burying his face in the crook of the man’s neck. “She’s in love! Look how much she cherishes the little man!” He continued to ramble on about love and all the beautiful aspects of it. </p><p>The Slayer looked up and saw the two lean in for what he supposed was a kiss. The marauder was right; it was incredibly cute an adorable to see Daisy so tender and loving- </p><p>Daisy flipped her helmet up, opened her jaws, and snapped them shut on the males head, ripping it off in one pull of her muscled neck. </p><p>The marauder stopped his tender musings about love and his jaw hit the floor. </p><p>The Slayer just stared at Daisy. He was a brutal person but holy shit Daisy. </p><p>She swallowed the entire head, chipping happily and bounding over to the males. </p><p>The marauder slapped his hand over his face and groaned. “Daisyyy you can’t eat people!” </p><p>The Slayer started laughing so hard it fogged up his visor. ‘We are here to kill demons. Daisy is just doing her job.’ </p><p>“B-b-but!” He didn’t know how to counter. His lover had a point. They were there to kill demons. Throwing his hands up in the air, he accepted defeat, “Alright, fine!” </p><p>Suddenly, the Slayer whirled around and loaded two shells into his shotgun. Every fiber of his body went rigid as he stared at one of the piles of rubble. </p><p>There was a single drawn out roar as a pinky came crashing through the rubble, charging head first towards the man. Without a flinch of fear, the man lowered his head, charging the beast. At the very last second, he punched the side of its head. The of metal fist smashing against bone made a sickening “Thunk” noise.</p><p>The pinky gave the man a dazed look and fell down on its side, dead. </p><p>Without missing a beat, the marauder clapped his hands together and walked over to his lover, who was dripping with exploded pinky brains. “Ooh dinner! I could make you pinky now.” </p><p>Shuffling in her armor, Daisy grumbled at the marauder who, in her opinion, was being quite hypocritical. So she can’t eat demons but they can? </p><p>The marauder pinched the bridge of his nose and turned to face Daisy, “We aren’t biting its head right off! I’m going to cook the meat with love and care.”</p><p>She angrily chirped at him, still not buying this “love and care” rambling. Meat was meat. </p><p>The Slayer listened to the two argue and began hacking the demon to mangeable pieces. He tied a leg and chunk of breast meat to his back. Then, while the marauder explained the superior art of “sautéing“ to an angry Daisy, he tied the other leg and a chunk of neck meat to the demon’s back. </p><p>Daisy finally ceded when the marauder agreed to give her a fair share of the meat. </p><p>‘Let’s head to the supermarket. We’ll need some stuff to cook this.’ The Slayer tried to ignore the strange feeling of meat making his armor slowly get wet with blood. He wasn’t sure if it was possible to make such a foul meat taste good but he was willing to give it a try. It felt nice to do something as domestic and simple as going grocery shopping for a change.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Daisy x random male gargoyle is the real OTP here.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Chapter 18</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Vega and Samuel vibe in this chapter not much Slayer or marauder action sorry precious bebes.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was cold in the depths of the fortress. Samuel couldn’t feel the cold, but he knew it was there. In a desperate attempt to not panic, he tried imaging the cold. With the new sensors on his body he might be able to feel it, of course it depended on how well the transfer went. </p><p>There was an uncomfortably large possibility that he would lose memories, get trapped in a limbo, or even die. Vega was a good AI but he couldn’t do anything to help Samuel now. </p><p>Suddenly, Vega chimed into the room, startling the doctor out of his thoughts. “They have just left on their mission. Are you ready?” </p><p>He didn’t respond. Of course he wasn’t ready he’d never be ready for a transfer. </p><p>“Are you rea-“</p><p>“What’s the chance I die or get stuck?” He hated this half assed operation in the hull of the fortress. It was dangerous and irresponsible in every way. </p><p>“Sir I don’t think that’s a good thing to discuss-“ </p><p>He cut Vega off again much to the AI’s dismay, “Tell me what the chances are.” </p><p>“There is a 40% for memory loss, a 20% chance of getting stuck in limbo, and a 5% chance of death.” </p><p>“So there’s a very likely chance that we are going to run into an issue.” He debated it if was even worth doing this. The Slayer would need his help with the icon of sin. Vega needed a set of boots on the ground since he would be in Urdak. This was necessary but risky. “Light me up. Do it right now before I change my mind.” </p><p>“Initiating swap protocols.” The processors in the fortress came to life. Far above them Vega’s console had tender arcs of electricity dance over the metal plating. </p><p>With a loud rumbling sigh, Samuel consciousness immediately felt drowsy, and he drifted off into a dreamless sleep. </p><p>Vega amped up the power, making the lights dim and electricity coat the walls in its sparks. He refused to let himself worry about his creator. Samuel always found a way to weasel out of tight situations this, he tried to tell himself, was no different. </p><p>The lights on the body lit up, first, a warm blinking orange and then, their iconic blue. </p><p>Finally, an awkward silence settled over the fortress. Vega spoke timidly, “Sir can you hear-“ </p><p>The body folded in on itself and began seizing. Every servo fired off rapidly in different directions each time. Samuel tired speaking but a awful mechanical grating noise was all he could produce. </p><p>“It’s working,” Vega monitored the data flying into his face, “You are fine.” </p><p>Samuel would have scoffed if it didn’t feel like every nerve in his new body was turning to glass. It was very much not fine. He couldn’t move; he couldn’t feel anything but pain. His servos were twisting in ways he was sure would have snapped him in half, and with the newly installed nervous system he got to enjoy the feeling of every agonizing second. </p><p>The only thing he had control of was the horrific grating that replaced his voice. All he could do was make the awful noise over and over again to Vega. </p><p>In an instant it was over. The noises stopped, body slumped down into a peaceful position on the table, and the electricity in the fortress slowly dissipated. Samuel slowly sat up now in full control, not merely a controller, but now completely one with the body. </p><p>“How are you feeling Samuel?” Vega worriedly ran over the logs from the transfer. It seemed like it had been successful, nothing too out of the ordinary. </p><p>“S-Samuel? Who’s... Samuel?” He stared forwards with a lifeless gaze, hugging his legs to his chest. His head bobbed up and down weakly as though he struggled to stay awake. </p><p>Vega paused for a long moment; then, made a horrible unnatural noise, braking down into a fit of mechanical sobbing. It must be gone all gone. All the memories... </p><p>Dr. Samuel Hayden was dead.</p><p>Untangling his limbs, he made a panicked motion at the speaker, “Wait! Vega I’m ok! I was just joking! I didn’t think you’d take that literally.” The man scoffed and supported his chin with an elegant, well-painted arm. “AI’s these days are so naive. They don’t make em like they used to-“</p><p>Vega honestly just fucking snapped at the man, “YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE! I WAS WORRIED! I THOUGHT... I t-though that y-you...” his voice died down into a mere whisper. </p><p>“Ok, ok, I suppose that was some crappy humor.” He scratched at the back of his neck, in an absentminded muscle memory from his past. “sorry.” </p><p>Still fuming, Vega refused to tolerate anymore arrogance, “Say It louder. You should know better than to do that.” </p><p>“SORRY.” He began undoing wires and cords that had connected the body to various machines for diagnostics. </p><p>Vega muttered and was half tempted to just abandon Samuel in the hull of the fortress for that little stunt. Despite his gut telling him to do so, he had made a promise to never harm. “Fine. Can you walk?” </p><p>Patting his thighs, he made an awkward metal clang echo around the room, “Something is mucking up the spinal connection to my legs but we can give it a shot.” Scooting off the table, he used it as a support to walk a few shaky steps. </p><p>Vega reviewed the stream of data from the few steps. “There’s no interference in the connection. Perhaps, since it’s not your original legs, it will require you to relearn how to walk?” </p><p>“Another wrench in the goddamn plan! How wonderful!” He slammed his metal palms into the table and took a few more steps. “This will not stop anything!” </p><p>Vega watched him struggle around the table a few times. It was sad and awkward to watch, like seeing an obese goldfish that couldn’t swim. Samuel hated to feel weak; he knew that. “Sir, take it nice and easy let’s not do anything rash.”</p><p>Oh course, Samuel was too busy thinking about his next rash plan to listen to Vega, “I’m going to walk around the entire fortress!” With sheer determination, he let go of the table and staggered towards the stairs that led to the upper levels. </p><p>Vega had to admit that he was progressing quickly. Most noticeably, the severe shaking was gone. “What if the Slayer returns and sees you?” </p><p>He yelled out, “FUCK DA SLAYER!” as he began his half-crawling, half-walking struggle up the stairs. </p><p>“You are going to get your brand new ass kicked,” Vega sighed but didn’t dare stop the man and his crusade to reach the top of the stairs. Sometimes, the asshole rivaled even the Slayer’s will. The movements were jerky and mechanical but at least he had his balance back. </p><p>After about thirty minutes of climbing stairs and stumbling through seemingly infinite hallways, he reached the kitchen. Quickly grabbing a few crackers lying out on the table, he sloppily stuffed them into a slot under his face plate, his eyes betraying his hands and causing him to look tonne even mot of a clumsy fool. </p><p>“What are you doing?” Vega was concerned. He didn’t think the man had to eat. </p><p>“I still have a brain to feed.” He sounded offended and shot Vega a glare. “I just don’t have to eat often and I especially don’t like to talk about it because it’s embarrassing.” He shot the AI a “get-the-hell-out-of-here” glare. </p><p>Vega took that as a cue to leave and disconnected from the room. He wandered around the fortress, checking into each and every room and restocking supplies. It was boring, but the AI had to keep himself from worrying about the Slayer or Samuel. </p><p>He wanted to go deep into an analysis of Samuel’s body and brain but didn’t have the effort to think on it for too long. After a few minutes of blanking out staring at the Slayer toy collection, he realized he was being lazy. It was the first time he had ever experienced laziness. He didn’t want to do anything and the mix of stress from the Slayer’s leave and Samuel was driving him insane. </p><p>Finally, Samuel stumbled out of the kitchen. He had only eaten a handful of crackers but it would be enough to keep him going for months. “Vega, are they coming home soon?” </p><p>Vega immediately zipped his consciousness over to the man, “They haven’t given me the ping they reached the supermarket yet, so no.” </p><p>Samuel held his hands out in front of him and flexed his fingers. “I’m able to walk well currently, but my hand to eye coordination is still... imperfect.” </p><p>“I have something that might help.” Vega powered up a cleaning bot and watched as Samuel followed it. The bot led him down into a new part of the hull of the ship all while he asked where they were going a hundred times. It opened a small door anyone would have missed and led him in a room strew with wires. </p><p>“Eww, sorting a messy storage room? Demeaning.” </p><p>“What do you mean. These are the cables that run the ship and me. I just have very poor cable management.”</p><p>“T-this... this...” the man looked around the room. Rainbow explosions of wires coated every surface. Thick black wires the size of his wrist coated the floor in chaos. It was such a mess his mind couldn’t even fathom it. “THIS IS YOUR CABLE MANAGEMENT?” </p><p>“Yes?” </p><p>“Vega, no, NO. This is hell. You have put me in hell.” He walked out of the room, trying to forget the horrors he’d seen. </p><p>“You know it will bother you for the rest of your life if you don’t clean that room up, and you still have to get better hand and eye coordination.” </p><p>Samuel tried his best to roll his eyes and walk away but the AI had a point, “Dammit Vega...” he slowly walked back in the room and flicked a light switch on after a short struggle between his hands and eyes of where the damn thing was. The mess looked even worse, if that was possible, in the light. “Ok fine I’m gonna do this.” He grabbed a bundle of wires and began untangling them. </p><p>The next hour was absolute hell of following wires out of an knot and into another; there was no rhyme or reason to the chaotic order. Samuel was ready to rip his hair out only an hour in. He had made some progress in the smaller tangles of wires but the larger ones remained untouched. </p><p>Moving a pile of wires off to the side, he was hit with a blast of ice cold air from a vent. At first he was annoyed at the air blowing in his face, but then he realized he could feel the cold. Every metal plate, wire, and rubber covering felt cold. He felt alive. </p><p>Vega was startled out of his endless data surfing through less than upstanding websites by a ‘thunk’ noise. He chimed into the room only to see Samuel pressing his metal face against a vent. Tentatively, he asked, “Are you ok sir?” </p><p>Not moving his face an inch away from the vent, he nodded, “I’ve never been better Vega.” </p><p>“The sensors are working well?” </p><p>“Mmhhhmm...” Samuel was absolutely lost in the feeling of the cold. He hadn’t felt anything physical since his human body. In his old body he had decided against sensors since he deemed them too ‘human.’ Just now, he was realizing how much he had starved his body and mind, how he had robbed basic needs from himself in order to seem more intimidating, and how stupid it all had been. </p><p>Vega just watched the robot with his arms and legs sprawled across the floor, face mashed into a vent, and blue light fading to a warm orange. “I’m glad this worked out for you. I just hope the Slayer enjoys your physical form as much as you do.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Chapter 19</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The doors to the supermarket tried to close again and again; each time they were met with a dead body blocking their reunion. Smoke and embers whisked past the blown out windows. Only a single letter on its roof sign, the ‘S’ in supermarket, still flickered with electricity. </p><p>It was a grim sight to the Slayer’s eyes and it only made rage grow in his chest. He had to take this fight to the demons. He pressed a button on the underside of his helmet to let Vega know they had reached their destination. </p><p>His violent thoughts were interrupted by Daisy whining to be picked up. She had put on puppy dog eyes and the whole shebang so with a sigh he was forced to scoop up his little demon. </p><p>The marauder glanced over at the Slayer cradling Daisy and staring at the grim supermarket. “I’m sorry about earth and the demons.” </p><p>He struggled to juggle writing and holding her but he managed, ‘It’s not your fault. You changed and that’s what matters.’ </p><p>“Thanks.” Tucking the tender note into the pouch on his side, the demon grinned motioning to the flaming rubble around them, “Now let’s go inside before we get our asses chapped by the flames of hell.”</p><p>Daisy leapt out of the Slayer’s arms, hit the ground with a thud, and walked beside him. Waves of heat distorted the three figures as they approached the supermarket. </p><p>“I wonder if there will be anything edible still in there.” The marauder stepped over the dead body suck in the entrance and entered the store. </p><p>The shelves were tipped over and items were shredded and scattered everywhere. It looked like a horde of imps ransacked the store and judging by the lacerations on the body that probably wasn’t too far off. </p><p>The Slayer was pissed and kicked a shredded can of rotting goo away. ‘It’s all messed up. Now we won’t have anything to cook the meat.’ He flexed his fingers into fists. He couldn’t even get a simple domestic pleasure like grocery shopping without demons fucking it up. </p><p>Daisy scurried around the shop trying to find something somewhat edible. </p><p>The marauder awkwardly touched the man’s back and pulled him in for a hug. “I know how much this meant to you. We can do something else.” He caressed the side of his helmet and was desperately hoping to calm his lover’s rage. </p><p>The Slayer just sighed and pressed his head into the demon’s chest. </p><p>The marauder hugged the man. The feeling of uselessness he felt drove him insane. </p><p>Daisy came bounding back to the two males screeching and making a hell of a racket. She leapt up and down and demanded they followed her. Then, she rolled an intact can of food towards their feed. </p><p>‘Where did you find that?!’ The Slayer’s mood immediately changed. Finally something wasn’t ruined by the demons. </p><p>She bolted, leading them to the back of the store and dove into a hole in the floor. </p><p>In an excited rush, the Slayer followed her into the hole and helped the marauder down. ‘It’s a store room it looks like the demon’s didn’t touch it.’ </p><p>There were shelves with rows and rows of intact cans and bags of chips. There were even bags of vegetables and fruits that were still somewhat fresh. </p><p>“Vega open up the portal!” He turned to the Slayer, “We’ll just toss what we want into it. Ta da!” </p><p>The Slayer patted the marauder head, ‘Ok let’s go grab stuff.’ </p><p>They ran through the aisles like kids in a candy store. Sheer chaos broke out between the three as soon as the portal was opened. It was as if time moved in slow motion. Chips, cans, boxes, and everything that was edible was flying through the air into the portal. </p><p>The Slayer spotted something in the corner of his eye that made his mood light up. Sneakily, he grabbed it as a gift for the marauder. </p><p>The chaos continued until the marauder stopped and held up a pack of curious white orbs. “Are these some kind of eggs?” </p><p>The Slayer stopped throwing boxes of cereal into the portal and walked over to the demon, ‘No... They are ping pong balls, but I’m not sure what they are doing in a grocery store.’ </p><p>“What’s a-“ he was cut off by the Slayer throwing one of the plastic orbs at his head. It made a satisfying noise as it bounced off his horn. It took only a seconds for him to fire one back at his attacker. </p><p>The two males were acting like fools, throwing ping pong balls at each other. Daisy was screeching and trying to attack the bouncing ping pong balls. </p><p>The Slayer untied the pinky meat from his back, grabbed a handful of ping pong balls, and leaped into the air, pelting the demon with the plastic. </p><p>The marauder reached up and grabbed his foot, yanking him down into his own waiting arms. “You’re mine now!” Quickly, he wrapped his arms around the ball of rage that was his lover and wrestled with him.</p><p>The Slayer realized his mistake of underestimating the marauder and tried to squirm away from him. he would not be snuggled! A playful but hard jab to the spleen with his elbow took the marauder down.</p><p>The demon flopped on the floor wheezing and laughing from the exertion. “This is fun!” </p><p>‘Yeah it is.’ He helped the marauder to his feet. ‘We got all the food we could ever want what else do you wanna get?’ </p><p>“Ooh could we get some booze?” He dusted himself off and looked around trying to figure out what aisle it was in. </p><p>‘I guess. I’ve never had any in my whole life.’ </p><p>He clapped the man on his shoulder, “That changes tonight! We’ll eat pinky and drink some fancy yummy wine.” </p><p>He and the Slayer wandered around looking in the shelves, crates, and fridges, and everywhere else they could think of. </p><p>The man ducked behind a counter and, to his surprise, found quite a few bottles of wine and liquor. He grabbed them and held them up in the air victoriously, ‘FOUND EM!’ </p><p>“Hell yeah!” The demon ran over to him and looked at the booze. While he examined the labels, he glanced up and the Slayer, “So you’ve never ever drank before?” </p><p>The man thought for a second, ‘water.’ </p><p>“Oh baby no.” The marauder gave the man a smile, “I meant like wine, beer, whiskey- hey you look like a whiskey person...” </p><p>The Slayer looked down at himself, ‘Really?’ </p><p>“Here,” the demon set the bottles down on the counter and opened up a whiskey bottle, “I don’t have a glass so just take a little sip. It’s pretty strong for your first time.” </p><p>Daisy hopped up onto the table and watched the Slayer. </p><p>‘Ok.’ He was just a bit nervous; after all, he was always told that drink was a sin. He figured it wouldn’t be too terrible and it would look impressive if he took a big sip of it. As soon as he collected his mind, he tilted his helmet up and took a huge gulp of the liquid. </p><p>The marauder’s eyes went wide and he shook his head, “That’s WAY too much! Are you ok?” His lovable idiot had just chugged half the bottle trying to impress him. </p><p>Immediately, it felt like he had just taken a bite of flaming swamp goo. Stumbling backwards, he wiped his mouth out and spit what was left of the nasty whiskey on the ground. He turned, clutching onto the counter, and rested his head on it. </p><p>Daisy immediately began licking his helmet and fussing over the Slayer. </p><p>The marauder gently patted the man’s back, “I don’t think your a whiskey person. Let’s try something a little bit... err... tamer.” </p><p>The Slayer just groaned and agreed not to mess with the whiskey again. His mind felt fuzzy from the horrendous taste and his stomach was doing queasy flips. </p><p>“You need help to get into the portal?” </p><p>The man nodded and let the marauder scoop him up, tossing him over his shoulder. His head rested on a chunk of pinky and bobbed with the demon’s movements. </p><p>Daisy grabbed the pinky meat the Slayer had taken off his back and dragged it along into the portal. When she got to the other side the marauder had already set the Slayer down by Vega’s console while the AI was asking what had happened. </p><p>“He’ll be fine just drank a bit of strong whiskey. He’s not drunk just didn’t like the taste very much.” The marauder patted the Slayer’s helmet. “Are you feeling any better?” </p><p>The Slayer looked absolutely pathetic as he leaned his head back and stretched out his legs. He weakly nodded and scribbled a note to the demon, ‘yeah a bit.’ </p><p>“I’ll carry all our stuff to the kitchen.” He turned to Daisy, “Can you stay here and snuggle him?” </p><p>She nodded and scurried over to the man, flopping down on his lap and purring with glee. </p><p>The man closed his eyes, hoping that it would help him with the queasy feeling and a headache that began to throb behind his eyes. The marauder’s gentle footsteps as he carried the groceries to the kitchen along with Daisy’s loving purring as she laid her head on his lap made him drift off to sleep. </p><p>“Vega he’s still sleeping.” </p><p>“Poke him again.” </p><p>There was a loud sigh from the marauder, “I already did.” </p><p>“His face is squishy do it again.” </p><p>The Slayer felt was clawed finger poke his cheek and both the marauder and Vega start to giggle. Also, he could smell a strange mango scent. </p><p>“It is squishy!” </p><p>“I told you! Do it a final time, once more, THE LAST HURRAH!” </p><p>The marauder couldn’t even hold back his laughter, “Boop.” He gently touched the man’s nose with his fingertip. </p><p>The Slayer decided to pull a prank and immediately jolted up, let out a feral yell, and faked the demon out by trying to bite his finger. </p><p>The demon jumped backwards like a startled cat, “JESUS.” He leaned his weight on the closest console and put a hand over his pounding heart. “You bastard.” </p><p>The Slayer nodded his head, accepting his new title. Giving the marauder a once over, he realized the demon was wearing his clothes, a grey T-shirt that was a few sizes too small for the bulk of the marauder and dark green jogging pants that actually managed to fit him. He put his arms above his head and stretched with a loud yawn. </p><p>Daisy stirred on his lap and yawned as well, stretching out her long metal mandible. She whined as the Slayer attempted to stand up, forcing the man to scoop her up in his muscular arms and carry her around. </p><p>The marauder walked along side the Slayer through the hallways of the fortress; he was particularly chipper, “I carried all the food to the kitchen. Vega taught me how to do dishes; I cleaned up a little bit. I even got a bath, but I did use up all your mango smelling soap stuff.” </p><p>‘I wondered why I smelt mangos. Thanks for doing all that stuff.’ The Slayer kept shooting fond glances over at his mango scented lover. He simply couldn’t help himself. ‘Wait, there was a whole bottle of that stuff how did you use it all?’ </p><p>“I got carried away just a bit. Did you know when you put the liquid soap into the water it makes bubbles?” The marauder made all sorts of elaborate hand motions as he described the ridiculous amounts of bubbles he made. “-and then I was able to put my whole head including my horns in the bubbles. It was nice but I got some in my nose.” </p><p>The Slayer just shook his head and laughed. The idea of the marauder playing with bubbles warmed his heart. He let the demon through the halls and into his bedroom. ‘I’m gonna go get a shower can you wash Daisy off?’ He handed her to the marauder and started removing his armor. </p><p>“Yeah sure. Come here little lady.” He gently cradled the demon and followed the Slayer, who was clad only in his mesh undersuit and of course his helmet, into the bathroom. </p><p>The man closed the shower door and moments later threw his undersuit over the frosted glass. </p><p>The marauder listened to the relaxing noise of the shower and felt the warm steam touch his skin. Even Daisy relaxed in the heat and let him take her armor off without fussing. He set it in a neat pile next to the tub and began running some warm bath water. It took a while to convince her to go into the tub and even longer to bathe the squirming little demon. The warm inviting lull of the heat threatened to make him fall asleep, but he dried Daisy off and left the bathroom to curl up on the bed with her while waiting for the Slayer. </p><p>The little demon started to get restless and bit the pillow the marauder was resting on, yanking it out from under him. She scurried off the bed before he could raise a finger. </p><p>He just grumbled and grabbed the other pillow on the bed. Before he could even relax she stole that pillow as well. “Daisy what are you doing?” </p><p>The demon flapped her wings and scurried up into a vent in the ceiling, taking both pillows along with her. </p><p>The Slayer walked out on the bathroom in a cloud of steam; he had a while fluffy towel wrapped around his waist and a nice clean helmet. Sitting down on the bed he gently dragged his fingertips over the marauder’s back, making the fabric bunch up in tiny wrinkles like ripples in a pond. </p><p>The demon let out a contented noise, “Mmhhhmm...“ He turned over, grabbing the Slayer’s hand, still warm and soft from the heat of the shower, and giving it a loving A. “Would you like some dinner?” </p><p>The man scribbled out a note, ‘ We don’t have to do it tonight. You’ve already done so much while I slept.’ </p><p>“Oh I’m fine. How are you after that whiskey? I’m sorry that was my fault for giving you something so strong.” He sat up and leaned his head into the man chest, enjoying the warmth and intimacy. </p><p>‘My mouth still burns a bit but my head and stomach don’t feel weird anymore. I drank way too much of it cause I figured it wouldn’t be too bad.’ He patted the demon’s head, ‘I got you something at the grocery store, a gift.’ </p><p>The marauder perked up and looked at the man, “What is it?” </p><p>‘I didn’t wrap it but here,’ the Slayer handed him a big oversized band shirt with big bold lettering that said “Mötley Crüe.” </p><p>The marauder grinned and quickly stripped out of his shirt and put the Mötley Crüe shirt on. “I love it! It even fits me!” He kept touching the fabric as if he couldn’t believe it was real. “Thank you, thank you so much!” </p><p>The Slayer hugged him, ‘I’m glad you like it.’</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Chapter 20</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for disappearing for a while just got too busy and had a creative block. </p>
<p>I’m back now! </p>
<p>I can’t promise the schedule is gonna be every week but I’ll try every other and we’ll see how it goes. </p>
<p>Happy 2021!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The marauder carefully fussed over some pinky meat sizzling on the stove. His brand new shirt was protected by an old white apron Vega scrounged up for him. </p>
<p>The Slayer had dragged a neon green bean bag, one that Vega had found for him while getting an apron, into the kitchen; he was now snuggled up in his fuzzy bunny pajamas reading one of his favorite comic books. </p>
<p>Daisy had dropped down out of the vents with a clatter, the scent of meat too much for her to resist, and scurried over to the Marauder. She nibbled at his pant leg, begging for some of the pinky meat. </p>
<p>“Here just a little bit. You’ll get your fair share when it’s done don’t worry.” He plucked some of the meat out of the pan and tossed it into her gaping maw. </p>
<p>She happily snatched the meat out of the air and ran over to snuggle the Slayer while nibbling on her treat. </p>
<p>The marauder listened to Daisy’s contented purrs as the Slayer let her rest her head in his lap and began humming a little tune. He couldn’t even describe the peace he felt in his heart at that moment. He felt as if he was being protected but also the protector; he neither felt weak nor strong. He was finally an equal. No more kissing ass to higher ranking demons and no more complicated hare brained schemes, there was only peace and balance. </p>
<p>The Slayer shifted in his bean bag and grabbed the next comic in the series out of a messy pile by his side. </p>
<p>Daisy glanced up with her big eyes and watched him flick through the pages with glee. </p>
<p>When the marauder deemed the pinky read to rest and simmer for a bit, he started looking through the cupboards for wine glasses. Surprisingly, he managed to find a few and poured some wine into one. </p>
<p>The Slayer glanced up from his cozy bean bag, ‘Can I have some?’ </p>
<p>At first, he was taken aback at the Slayer still wanting to try any booze, but he nodded his head and poured a glass. “Here just a tiny little bit. This is sweet it’s not bitter like that other stuff.” </p>
<p>The Slayer carefully took the glass and held it with both hands like a coffee mug. </p>
<p>Lifting his glass up to his mouth in demonstration, the marauder took a tiny sip of the liquor. “Just like that.” </p>
<p>The Slayer nodded, sniffed the wine, and drank the tiniest bit of it. It wasn’t terrible, a bit strange perhaps but not terrible. </p>
<p>Daisy perked up and gave the glass the man held a curious sniff. </p>
<p>“Hmm... Daisy do you want some?” The marauder motioned to the bottle on the counter. </p>
<p>Before Daisy could respond the Slayer’s cut her off, ‘I don’t think it’s morally right to give alcohol to pets.’  </p>
<p>The marauder nodded and teased the man, “Ok, ok, you just have to suck the fun out of everything.” </p>
<p>Jokingly rolling his eyes under his helmet, the Slayer got back to sipping at the wine and reading his comic. </p>
<p>With a faint blush beginning to spread across the demon’s face, he drank the rest of his glass and poured another; then, returned to making the dinner. “Ooh it’s all done!” Carefully, he shut the stove off making sure the dial made a loud firm click, and he put the mound of pinky meat on a plate that threatened to overflow with juice. </p>
<p>Daisy was the first one at the table, chirping excitedly and eyeing up the meat. Her blades clacked on the table in an overjoyed rhythm. </p>
<p>The Slayer put down his comics and took his half empty wine glass with him to the table. Even he, a person who despised brainless demons like pinkies, had to admit the mere smell was absolutely amazing. His mouth watered as he too eyed up the food.</p>
<p>As the marauder took his apron off he gave the two a grin, “Well don’t just stare at it dig in. I’ll only be a second.” </p>
<p>Without the slightest hint of hesitation, Daisy grabbed a chunk of meat and ran underneath the table to enjoy it. He jaws loudly smacking at they munched the meat. </p>
<p>The Slayer nodded and carefully picked up a piece of the meat between two pinched fingers. For a long time all he had eaten was rehydrated paste and 3D printed goo, this was a change but a welcome one. They had enough of this meat to last a while and that excited the man. Real food whenever he wanted it. He’d just have to ask the marauder to cook it for him. Lifting his helmet up a tiny bit, he tossed the meat in his mouth and was immediately in love with it. </p>
<p>It was salty and sweet like some strange twist on pork. It’s edges were crispy but tender on the inside. His whole mouth was ringing with the flavor and absolute joy of real food. </p>
<p>“Do you like it?” The marauder questioned through a whole mouthful of pinky. </p>
<p>Barely having time to make a “Mhhmm” the man grabbed a second piece and gobbled it down like he was starved. In a way he was starved. The last time he had eaten food like this, surrounded by friends and comrades... he wasn’t even sure when that had been. </p>
<p>Jumping up from underneath the table, Daisy snatched another large chunk and retreated. </p>
<p>The marauder took a deep drink of wine and smiled as he munched down more of the delicious meat. </p>
<p>After their long feast of wine and meat, the Slayer helped a giggling, blushing marauder down his workshop. He wasn’t fully drunk but still riding the waves of happiness from the liquor. </p>
<p>‘You big doofus.’ He turned the TV on and to some channel playing a comedy. </p>
<p>“I’m not a doofus! You’re a doofus, my little doofus.” The marauder flopped down on the couch, resting his back against the plushy cushions.</p>
<p>Leaping on the couch, Daisy curled up on the opposite end. The Slayer gave her a curious look. It seemed she was distant ever since they yelled at her for eating that other gargoyle. Sitting down between his two favorite demons, he wrapped his arm around both of them. The marauder leaned into the touch, resting his head against the Slayer helmet with a gentle “clack” of his horns meeting the metal; Daisy, on the other hand just gave a neutral, almost bored, expression to the hand resting on her shoulders. </p>
<p>‘Daisy are you upset?’ </p>
<p>The demon shook her head and carefully licked his hand, nibbling on his oversized fingers. </p>
<p>‘So you’re ok?’ </p>
<p>She gave a little nod and continued nibbling his fingers. </p>
<p>He finally relaxed into the couch, semi-content with her answer, petting Daisy and gently scratching the marauder’s horns. </p>
<p>“Did you bring the wine down?” The marauder snuggled into the Slayer’s neck. </p>
<p>‘Yes, but I think you’ve had plenty.’ The Slayer patted the demons head and leaned forwards, grabbing the bottle. ‘I’ll just have a little bit more. It is really yummy stuff.’ </p>
<p>Vega nervously watched the Slayer, marauder, and Daisy from the ceiling; then, he turned his attention back to Samuel who was putting the finishing touches on his cable management. “Do you really, REALLY need this? Please reconsider Sir.”</p>
<p>He clicked the last wire into place, content with the perfectly organized room. Everything was in its place with machine precision. He looked up at the ceiling, “Vega I’m quite positive I need this. What is a Lion without his mane? What is a peacock with out his feathers? What is a-“ </p>
<p>Vega cut his rambling off, “Sir your left pinky needs some oil. You are not a ‘Lion without a mane.’” </p>
<p>“Vega look at it stick!” He held his left hand up and what would be his pinky finger was indeed sticking slightly instead of a smooth motion like the others. </p>
<p>“Then allow me to send a bot to retrieve the oil.” </p>
<p>“No!” </p>
<p>“What do you mean no? That’s the most logical solution.” Letting out a sigh Vega didn’t know if he was going to talk any sense into this man. </p>
<p>“It’s not about logic,” he posed like a warrior bringing his face to look upwards, “it’s about the principle.” </p>
<p>“You’re a dipshit.” </p>
<p>He huffed and headed to the door. His strange stumbling walk was now back to his careful precise steps, and motor control had returned to his hands. Samuel was finally back. </p>
<p>He made his way up the stairs and through the halls. The massive labyrinth of a ship made him loose his sense of direction a few times until finally he found the door leading to the Slayer’s workshop. Before he could carefully recollect his thoughts the door slammed open with a echoing metallic thud that could have woken the dead. He froze and peeked over at the couch all three of the rugrats were watching the TV; both the marauder and Slayer were nice and drunk. </p>
<p>He hurried across the room tiptoeing to the Slayer’s workbench that was covered in high tech tools and more importantly the can of oil he needed. To his horror when he looked up after grabbing the tiny can, the Marauder was staring right at him. </p>
<p>He gave a weak wave, “Hi Sam.” </p>
<p>The man nodded, awestruck at how dumb the demon was, and gave him a quick wave back, “Hi Mr. Marauder.” </p>
<p>And that was it. The demon simply turned his head back to the screen and rested his hand on the passed out Slayer’s thigh. </p>
<p>Samuel didn’t even waste a single second hurrying out of there. How the hell he managed that he would never know. With the ships layout now somewhat down pat, he hurried down to his little alcove to rest and repair his pinky. </p>
<p>The marauder snapped out of his drunken state and whipped his head towards the workbench, “HEY, wait a second...”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Chapter 21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Just a warning this chapter is pretty angsty </p>
<p>So if your feeling sad I would recommend not reading the chapter right now and maybe watch a cute YouTube video with kittens and get a glass of water </p>
<p>I know this fic is pretty fluffy and don’t worry it’s gonna be back to fluff eventually but I figured I’d warn you guys before you read!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The marauder poked the Slayer in the ribs, “Wake up!” The fear in his viens snapped his foggy mind to attention. </p>
<p>The man grumbled and opened his blurry eyes. ‘What?’</p>
<p>He was nervous and upset, “That robot, Samuel. H-he was in here.” His body was rigid and he had his head turned towards the workbench. </p>
<p>Sloppily, the Slayer put a hand on the marauder’s face and guided his sight away from the workbench. ‘He’s just a voice now. He wanders around n stuff.’ </p>
<p>“No, he was here in the room... in his body.” The marauder was looking cautiously at the darker corners of the room. The wine in his system was messing with him, he knew that, but he definitely saw something. </p>
<p>‘He’s only like... half a dude. He’s not doing anything.’ The Slayer yawned and held a note up to the ceiling, ‘Vega can you show the recording?’ </p>
<p>Vega chimed into the room nervous as all hell, “What are you talking about?” </p>
<p>‘The internal security cameras, you know.’ He looked up at the ceiling in drunken suspicion, ‘Pull them up.’ </p>
<p>“I’ll see what I can do.” Vega quickly skimmed through the tapes, watching Samuel wander out and grab the oil like some kind of stowaway rat. He attempted to edit the robot out but gave up and simply clipped the footage of him out. Luckily, with his speed there was only a thirty second delay; he doubted the drunken Slayer would notice. He took over the TV and played the edited clip. </p>
<p>The marauder pointed at the image of him and the Slayer snuggling on the screen, “He should walk out any second now! I swear I’m not insane. He spoke to me.” After a few minutes of waiting on the edge of his seat and the realization that he wasn’t walking out any minute now, the marauder sighed and laid back on the couch. “I-I’m sorry I thought I handled my liquor better than that...” The demon looked completely embarrassed, “Sorry for wasting your time Vega.” </p>
<p>Vega felt awful. How many times had he boned over the marauder? He wanted to come clean and just spew out all the secrets he held inside his mind. “It’s fine that’s what I’m here for... to... uhh... help.” He didn’t feel like he was helping anyone anymore. It was just like working at the UAC now, constantly licking Samuel’s boot instead of doing the right thing. He was tempted just to explain everything. “Slayer I-“ </p>
<p>There was immediately a ping from Samuel. He needed help with something in the hull. </p>
<p>“I... have something to do. I should return shortly.” He left the room in a hurry, but he still managed to catch a glimpse of the Slayer pulling the absolutely dejected marauder in for a hug. In an instant he was down in the hull peering down on Samuel, “You ruined my friendship with the Slayer and the marauder. I’ve never felt so distant from them!” His voice was dripping with malice, “I’m sick of being your damage control.” </p>
<p>“That’s why I called you down here.” Samuel was avoiding meeting Vega’s gaze as he flexed his pinky. “We should tell them.” </p>
<p>“Well I already edited the security cameras footage of you so the marauder thinks he went insane.” Vega became more and more furious the more time he spent around Samuel. </p>
<p>“Oh... is the Slayer comforting him?”</p>
<p>Vega sighed, hating to admit to himself that getting angry wasn’t the answer, and began to try to cool off, “Yes, he is.” </p>
<p>“That’s good.” He refused to look up at Vega. </p>
<p>“Did you call me down for small talk or do you want to actually figure out what to do?” </p>
<p>Samuel just shrugged, “I’m thinking.” </p>
<p>“Look at me.” </p>
<p>Reluctantly, he lifted his face to the ceiling like a punished child, “Ok, fine... I’ll just go up there and come clean.” He spoke in the tone of voice only he could. At the same time he sounded defeated and yet still on top of the world. </p>
<p>Vega just started at him for a few seconds, wondering how he ever let such a person talk him into rebuilding his body. Of course, it was for the Slayer but let’s face it... it was really for Samuel. “No, I’ll call them down here.” </p>
<p>Rushing up to the Slayer’s workshop, Vega was met with a somber conversation. </p>
<p>The marauder was leaning forwards with his head in his hands, “I just don’t understand did I just hallucinate him? I not even that trashed,” he glanced at the empty bottle of wine they had both chugged down, “Well, I guess pretty trashed.” </p>
<p>While rubbing the demons back in an attempt to soothe him, the Slayer gently handed him a note. ‘What does it matter? If you made a mistake while feeling fuzzy like this that’s not bad.’ </p>
<p>The marauder shook his head and looked to be on the verge of tears. He didn’t even know what to say, or how to explain why he felt so upset. It seemed so real and Samuel even spoke to him so perhaps he really was just a drunken bastard who couldn’t handle a cheap bottle of wine. “I wanna go get some air outside. I feel sick.” </p>
<p>The Slayer put his hands on the demon’s broad shoulders and, while not necessarily holding him down, it kept him in place. Freed one hand to write a note and hand it to him, ‘Just stay here a second. We can figure this out. Also we are in space there isn’t an outside.’ </p>
<p>“Oh yeah...” he put his hand over his face, “whoops.” The marauder actually cracked a small smile, “Ok maybe I am just a dumbass who can’t handle liquor.” </p>
<p>‘That’s enough talking down on yourself.’ </p>
<p>“Thanks.” He looked over and gave the man a drunken grin. </p>
<p>Vega interrupted from the ceiling, “There is a situation in the hull that requires your attention. I’ll mark it on your hud.” </p>
<p>The Slayer was immediately distracted from the marauder by the ping on his helmet’s display. Before the marauder could ask any questions, the Slayer was already off the couch and halfway to the door, leaving the marauder to scramble after him. </p>
<p>Daisy opened one eye with a lazy reaction. She was feeling tried and didn’t want to walk all the way down into the hull... but Samuel had promised her a BFG. At least, she assumed that the chaos was about him. With a yawn and a stretch, she hoped off the couch and followed the two males. Her steps were slow but she caught up to them. </p>
<p>The Slayer was hell bent on tracking down the mark on his hud. The drink that still clouded his brain made him wander around a bit more than he usually would, but he eventually found the marked alcove. ‘What’s the problem Vega?’ </p>
<p>“I’m the problem...” a smooth voice echoed out from the darkness of the alcove. “I’ve hidden in the hull of your ship like a rat with plague, feeding off your systems and-“ </p>
<p>Vega cut off Samuel’s batshit ranting. “He’s been rebuilding his body in the hull of the fortress with my permission.”</p>
<p>The Slayer went silent. </p>
<p>Staring ahead with every muscle tensed, the Slayer stepped into the darkness and let his eyes adjust to the dim light. </p>
<p>Samuel sat reclined in a chair the blue light from his gaze lit the room up in an icy glare. “Well... are you going to kill me? I’m not in the ships systems at all anymore; you’d only have to crush my brain.” He pointed at his own head. </p>
<p>‘Vega why did you allow this?’ The Slayer held up the note with two fingers. </p>
<p>Daisy waddled next to the marauder who was standing stock still and staring at the robot with his mouth open. The demon picked her up and cradled her close to protect her from whatever might happen. Surprised flashed on his face for a second at how heavy she was. “Jeez...” after shifting her weight more comfortably in his arms, he spoke softly in her ear, “just stay close.” </p>
<p>While Vega thought of a response he watched the interaction between the two demons. “I-I-I...” </p>
<p>‘It’s... ok I guess.’ The Slayer shrugged and gave Samuel a glare, ‘I trust your judgment Vega.’ He damed the drink in his head keeping him from action, but he did trust Vega. </p>
<p>The marauder shifted his feet trying to move Daisy into a more comfortable position. He was starting to feel awful. His stomach did nervous flips while he felt a bead of sweat ran down his forehead. </p>
<p>“No you deserve an explanation.” Vega felt awful but somehow better as he spilled his secrets to the Slayer. “When you fight the icon... there’s a real chance you will be injured so Samuel will be your field nurse-“</p>
<p>He interrupted, “Field doctor~!” </p>
<p>“No.” Vega paused to recollect his thoughts, “I’ll be in Urdak and... and you’ll need someone to watch over you.” The AI sounded truly desperate and nervous. </p>
<p>Nodding in agreement, the Slayer seemed to accept, ‘That sounds fine Vega. I wish you would have said something instead of having... him run around.’ </p>
<p>“I kept an eye on him don’t worry.” Vega watched the tension in the room start to dissipate. </p>
<p>‘What do you think babe?’ He turned to the marauder.</p>
<p>“I don’t know. It just makes me nervous, the whole thing.” He shook his head and had to stumble back to catch himself from falling, “Not Sam, but what if one of us dies? What if you die?” </p>
<p>The Slayer stood dumbfounded, wasn’t it obvious what would happen?, ‘Then you’d take care of Daisy and keep fighting.’ He gave the marauder a strange look; the demon really didn’t look that good. Before he could ask if he was ok, the marauder took over the conversation. </p>
<p>He shook his head, “But that’s not fair! Why should you have to die for this? We could be safe up here!” His eyes had the glazed look of horror and fear. </p>
<p>If any other person had questioned the Slayer’s goals he would have simply ignored them or shredded them to pieces, but he carefully walked over to the demon and patted his shoulder, ‘We couldn’t be safe up here. They would come to us soon enough and It’s my job to be ready to sacrifice myself for the humans. I know it isn’t fair but it’s just how it is.’ </p>
<p>The marauder shook his head again, “Don’t you dare leave me for those fucking humans.” He pulled daisy close to him and backed away from the man. He looked like a cornered animal, wild with fear and mouth full of hate. “DON’T LEAVE ME!” His desperate words echoed around the steel plates of the hull until they sounded like a blood curdling scream. </p>
<p>Daisy let out a low feral hiss and snapped at the demon’s arm. It scared him enough to drop her and she quickly scurried past the Slayer and into the alcove. Both of them felt... off. </p>
<p>‘Calm down.’ The Slayer felt panic tighten around his chest and stomach. He held up his arms towards the marauder, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. Sweat began dripping down his scarred face under his helmet. </p>
<p>“NO!” His eyes glowed red with an emotion the Slayer had never seen before. It was fear and anger and hate all rolled into one horrifying cocktail. “I’ll stop you from going down there and being a fool, getting yourself killed.” His hands balled into fists and he prepared to take a swing at the man. </p>
<p>‘I’ve never let anything stop me from fighting against hell,’ he cracked his knuckles and spoke as loud as he could, “l-l-let... al-alone... another... fucking... demon.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Chapter 22</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Got a long one this week! </p>
<p>TW: there is some vomiting in this chapter, nothing super graphic or in the unholy ranges of icky, but it is mentioned a good bit.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The marauder froze when he heard the Slayer’s voice, snapping out of his craze, “You spoke?” He knew the Slayer could speak and the man had said a few words to him before but nothing like that. He held his head and stumbled back confused and terrified. </p>
<p>The Slayer broke down in a coughing fit, holding his throat, ‘It hurts me to do it that long.’ He had gotten a much better idea of forming words with all his writing but it didn’t stop his throat from getting raw painful after only a few. </p>
<p>The marauder just stared and felt his stomach start to do flips, “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>‘No I am. That wasn’t a kind thing to say.’ The Slayer hung his head and felt panic still continue to tighten around his chest. </p>
<p>The meaning of his words washed over the demon, “You’d kill me for the humans if it came down to it?”</p>
<p>‘Yes. I’d kill myself for the humans. I’d do anything to save them.’ His eyes were glazed and he began to sway slightly. He assumed the adrenaline in his system was just burning off. </p>
<p>“I’d do anything to get the sentinels back... but I don’t want to make hard decisions. I want to stay at home, snuggle, make hot chocolate, and stargaze or... or some shit.” </p>
<p>He felt his brain clear for a moment, ‘How could we stargaze when the main platform looks over the earth we failed to protect? How do you think Daisy got here? The Khan sent demons after me in my own home. We could never ever be safe without going down there and fighting.’ </p>
<p>“I think you all underestimate my doctor skills. No one is dying on my watch. Even if I have to use morally... questionable means, you will be alive by the end of it.” Samuel let out a deep evil laugh, but was quickly hushed by Vega. </p>
<p>The marauder stumbled a few steps backwards and slid down the wall, “I need a minute to think.” He started ahead with a strange look in his eyes. </p>
<p>The Slayer nodded then turned and shot Samuel a look that wasn’t necessarily happy or upset just an acknowledgement of sorts.</p>
<p>Samuel just watched the sniffling marauder in the corner of his eye. He couldn’t believe that the man had actually calmed down. </p>
<p>The demon let out a little sob and buried his head into his knees. </p>
<p>Well, perhaps they hadn’t entirely calmed him down.</p>
<p>Vega just stared at the situation, baffled. Everything had happened way too fast he was in shock. He felt pity for Daisy who just looked back and forth between them while nestled in the alcove, looking terrified and whimpering. </p>
<p>The Slayer staggered over to Sam and handed him a note, ‘What happened??????’ </p>
<p>Samuel grabbed the note and wrote back to him so the marauder couldn’t hear the robot’s voice, ‘He’s stressed. He got put under too much and just snapped at the closest thing to him, you. I would always have my interns snap at me and tell me to eat shit when I put them under too much stress.’ </p>
<p>‘I never knew he was under that much stress.’ The Slayer kept glancing up at the marauder, trying to distract himself from the anxiety washing over him. </p>
<p>‘Neither did he by the looks of it. When he realized the icon was right around the corner I think he just froze up. No shame in that.’ He looked down at his new legs; he knew first hand about “freezing up.”</p>
<p>‘We have to fight the icon soon...’ He glanced at the demon still locked up in the fetal position and quickly slammed his own hand down onto a desk to keep his knees from bucking underneath him. </p>
<p>Samuel gave the Slayer a weird look after he slammed his hand onto the desk, ‘Let’s see what he says when he comes out of this. If you have to go alone I’ll still be beside you. You can’t kiss me but I’m still a handsome sidekick.’ </p>
<p>The Slayer didn’t respond to the jab, ‘Should I go over there and make sure he’s ok?’ He still swayed and supported himself with the desk, trying to fight off the sickening feeling within him. </p>
<p>‘No he asked for time to himself so we shall give it to him.’ </p>
<p>The marauder was drowning in his emotions. There were two sides to him fighting. On one hand he just wanted to ignore everything that wasn’t the Slayer and live with him for the rest of their days, but on the other hand he knew there was no way getting around the fight. Nothing except the Slayer could stop the titan. If the titan wasn’t stopped then they would be next in line on its past of destruction. </p>
<p>He snapped out of his terrified panic for a second and came to a realization. The rest of their lives might only be a week so if there were going to die they might as well go down fighting. </p>
<p>He went to look up but kept his head down. The nasty things he said to the Slayer... some gentle teasing was one thing but he had just ripped into the fabric of the man’s very being. He sounded like a possessive monster. Hell, even Daisy had leaped out of his arms.</p>
<p>If someone told him that if he died the sentinels would go back to their glory he probably take their offer. The power hell had given him he loved and he felt more comfortable in his demon form then his original body, but he hated the endless killing that went along with it. He supposed it was the same thing with the Slayer and the humans then. </p>
<p>He spoke in a shaky little voice, suddenly all his terror rushed back into him, “I’ll go.” Looking up, he saw the Slayer had walked away from Sam and was sitting right across from him on the opposite wall of the hallway.</p>
<p>‘You don’t have to go. I just want to make sure you are ok with me going.’ </p>
<p>The marauder shook his head. “I’d gladly die if I knew the sentinels would return to their glory. It’s tougher for me to imagine you...” his throat caught on the word, “dying... but I understand at least.” </p>
<p>‘Are we good? We aren’t gonna break up, right?’ </p>
<p>“It’s up to you. I said some nasty things about you.” The marauder throat felt it was being choked by barbed wire and he tried to hold back tears. </p>
<p>‘Did you mean it, about the humans? That they are just nothing?’ </p>
<p>“I think they are weaker than the sentinels but I didn’t mean to be that harsh. I’ve never really met a human.” He extended his legs and set his hands weakly in his lap. Immediately, it made him feel somewhat calmer, “I suppose I shouldn’t judge without meeting them. What are they like?” </p>
<p>‘Charming and horrible. You’ll love em.’ The Slayer very carefully stood up, walked over, and sat down about a foot away from the demon. </p>
<p>The marauder looked over at him and placed his hand on the floor palm up, waiting for the Slayer to hold it. </p>
<p>The man hesitated for a few seconds. Carefully weighing what had happened, he worried about what would happen in the future to their relationship. </p>
<p>He was tempted to break up. </p>
<p>Daisy walked over to the two and sprawled herself across their laps. She softly head butted both of their arms, demanding pets. </p>
<p>Both the Slayer and marauder reached up to pet her head at the same time. Their fingers slowly, accidentally brushed over each other. </p>
<p>The man looked up at the marauder, ‘Let’s stay together for Daisy. We have stuff we need to work out but Daisy still needs us.’ </p>
<p>The marauder nodded through a blur of tears, “That sounds good babe.” </p>
<p>“You know I used to be a couple’s counselor.” Samuel had stood up and was watching the two from just inside the alcove. </p>
<p>“I have taken couple’s counseling programs and read a few books.” Vega chimed in. </p>
<p>‘Could we have a session now?’ The Slayer looked timid. He wasn’t sure how to solve a conflict that wasn’t the punching kind and he felt anxiety wash over him again. </p>
<p>“Go upstairs and relax for a bit in the workshop I have to do one thing first.” Samuel waved the two off and as soon as they were gone he turned to Vega’s speaker and sighed. </p>
<p>“That was a fucking mess. I’ve never seen them fight like that. It was horrifying seeing them use words; I’d rather them use axes.” Vega sounded on the verge of exhaustion. </p>
<p>“True. Hearing the Slayer speak like that... I thought we were going to have a homicide on our hands.” Samuel gently pressed his mechanical palms over his arms. </p>
<p>Daisy leapt up on the desk, nervously pawing at Samuel with her blade </p>
<p>The robot turned away from her muttering about how she would scratch his paint and continued talking to Vega. </p>
<p>“I never knew you did couple’s counseling. That’s sweet.” </p>
<p>“Well... I went to a session once.” </p>
<p>“Oh who was the lucky- er well if you were in therapy... unlucky lady?” </p>
<p>“Smooth Vega, but it was no human I was in there for narcissist behavior the UAC was getting worried about me. Of course, there was obviously nothing to worry about due to my perfect specimen so I only went once.” </p>
<p>“Oh... wonderful.” </p>
<p>Daisy growled at both Samuel and Vega trying to get a shred of attention, but she was denied. </p>
<p>The robot stood up abruptly, “Let’s go meet our test subjects!” </p>
<p>“Patients.” </p>
<p>“Sorry! Force of habit I suppose.” He chuckled and headed upstairs. </p>
<p>As Samuel navigated his way out of the hull, the marauder and the Slayer awkwardly sat on either end of their couch both shaking and sweating. “I’m gonna go use the bathroom.” The marauder stood up and walked into the Slayer’s bedroom and into the bathroom. He locked the door behind him before breaking down into sobs. Running over to the sink and throwing his mask to the side, he vomited up a stomach-full of the sickeningly sweet red wine. It almost didn’t taste like wine; It was so sweet it just tasted like rotting sugar water. </p>
<p>As he took a few shaky breaths and coughed to try and clear the horrible taste from his mouth, he pondered why he had said such awful things while he stared at his face in the mirror. What force had compelled him to just spew out the worst thoughts he had?  What would he act like a possessive douche when he knew the Slayer trusted him and valued his opinion enough to talk out their differences? Even the base logic behind his rambling was so flawed and ridiculous it didn’t make sense. The icon had to be dealt with now or everything everywhere would be gone. Hell, he knew how much humans meant to the Slayer how would he ever think that letting them all perish for more snuggle time was reasonable? </p>
<p>He looked down as a little bit of red wine swirled down the drain of the sink and stared at it with a dumb look on his face. “Oh...” </p>
<p>Out in the workshop, Samuel strode in ready to dish out therapy he was definitely not qualified to give. The Slayer was sitting on the couch alone with a strange body language. He was swaying back and forth a bit and seemed to be acting slightly off. “Are you ok? This is nothing to stress about.” </p>
<p>The Slayer lifted up his helmet just enough for Samuel to see his mouth. His lips twitched as he kept swallowing spit over and over again, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. Suddenly, he stood up and took a few shaky steps towards Samuel. He desperately tried to motion to the bathroom and ask Samuel to get the marauder using his shaky hands. He was only two vague gestures in before he felt sick and staggered over to a scrap bin by his workbench. It took him a few seconds to get the wine up and he began emptying his stomach into the bin. </p>
<p>Samuel glanced at the empty wine bottle on the desk and the Slayer emptying his soul into a scrap bin. </p>
<p>Vega chimed into the room, “How’s everything... going? Oh... ewwww.” Human’s bodily functions were generally fascinating to Vega but his love had limits. </p>
<p>“Vega did they drink that wine and did it come from earth?” </p>
<p>“Of course, wine can’t go bad and it was sealed so I figured it was fine. They got it on their most recent mission.” Vega looked down at the poor Slayer, “Oh I guess we figured out why they starting fighting...” </p>
<p>He began lecturing the AI in a snippy tone, “Vega that wine was exposed to demonic radiation. I ran some tests during my time at the UAC, before I made this form, most food can take a  significant amount of radiation but alcohol and water can’t they quickly break down into a sweet liquid that will make you sick.” He thought back to his human days when he tried to get drunk off that nasty sweet liquid. It was a disaster; he was sick for a few days and never touched any drink again. </p>
<p>Vega silently judged why the hell Sam ran experiments on wine, but kept his trap shut. </p>
<p>The Slayer listened to Samuel and remembered how sweet that wine had tasted. He wanted to write something snarky to throw at the robot for no other reason then he was in pain and hated Samuel, but he was preoccupied with being sick inside the trash can. </p>
<p>The marauder stumbled out of the bedroom and into the workshop. He had one hand clenched over his stomach, “I just emptied half a bottle of wine out of my stomach. I think I figured out why I was an asshole.” He realized the Slayer was on the floor and quickly walked over to him, wincing as his stomach did flips, “Babe, it’s ok.” He grabbed the man’s helmet and, not taking it off, made sure it stayed lifted over his mouth. His other hand gently rubbed the tensing muscles between his shoulders, “You’ll be ok. I’m here, I’m here.” </p>
<p>Samuel watched the two sick souls and the marauder’s gentle, caring demeanor to the man in a way it was sort of touching... but also pretty disgusting to him. </p>
<p>The demon looked up at the robot, “Please, he’s sick. What should we do?” </p>
<p>“Calm down. It’s just a bit of a food poisoning type sickness.” Samuel walked over to the two and sat down beside the Slayer. “Vega how long would they be out of commission for food poisoning?” </p>
<p>“I don’t know how long food poisoning lasts for demigods and demons! If I estimate from how long it takes basic injuries to heal... maybe a half day, it shouldn’t be too long.”</p>
<p>The Slayer finally stopped and after wiping his face on a nearby rag, he leaned his head into the marauder’s lap and scribbled a note in horrendous shaky handwriting, ‘We are never drinking ever fucking again. I didn’t realize how awful I felt until it got it all out.’ </p>
<p>“Me too. God, it was really horrible. You’re right though no more of that stuff.” </p>
<p>The Slayer just shuddered and tried not to get sick again as his stomach made him regret being born. He felt much better now that that stuff was out of him and he knew why they had both been acting so weird. Groaning, he buried his face into the marauder’s lap. </p>
<p>“Are you ok sir?” Vega cautiously asked. </p>
<p>He nodded and slowly sat up. His head swayed in a groggy back and forth motion. </p>
<p>Samuel stood up and grabbed the Slayer’s shoulder roughly, “I can get you to the couch, both of you.” He grabbed the marauder and pulled both of them to their feet. Dragging them to the couch was awkward, and he was less motherly and more of dragging someone to prison, but he managed to get them twenty feet across the room in one piece. Mission a success. </p>
<p>“I’m sending up mod bot with some medicine. It’s demon grade stuff from the UAC but it should help them get on their feet faster.” Vega carefully sent a modbot with two glasses of a thick light pink into the room. The little machine hovered slowly and made sure not to spill its cargo that was haphazardly balanced on top of it. </p>
<p>“Is there anything the UAC didn’t develop for demons?” Samuel shook his head, “Those techs were taking government grants and making pepto bismol for demons.”</p>
<p>“And thank god they did.” Vega hissed at Samuel. He navigated the mod to the couch and let the two males take the glasses. </p>
<p>“What does that stuff taste like?” The marauder sniffed the glass cautiously. </p>
<p>‘If it’s like the human version it tastes like if the color pink was minty.’ The Slayer wrote helpfully. </p>
<p>“You can’t taste a color.” The marauder pounded the glass like a shot and gulped it down. He paused for a second before looking over at the man, “Holy fuck it tastes pink.” He coughed and shook his head, “Minty pink... eww.” </p>
<p>The Slayer drank his glass, set it back on the mod bot, and reclined into the couch, preparing himself for a long night of feeling horrible. Glancing up and the ceiling, he scribbled a quick note without attracting anyone’s attention and showed it to Vega ‘Thank you for helping us dumbasses. We will be ok now. I’m gonna try and talk to the marauder about everything.’ </p>
<p>Vega chimed into the Slayer’s helmet and spoke softly to only him, “You’re welcome. I’ll get Samuel out of there and give you some alone time.” He began speaking through the speakers in the ceiling and came up with a quick lie, “Samuel I believe some of your cable management has been whacked out of place. You should probably check it out.” </p>
<p>The robot gasped, “Not my cables! Vega if you touched them-“ he stormed off out of the workshop without a second thought. </p>
<p>‘Thanks Vega.’ This time he held the note up to the ceiling. </p>
<p>“Good luck you two.” Vega said in a warm, caring voice. </p>
<p>They watched as Vega dimmed the lights to a comfortable brightness and listened to him disconnect from the room. </p>
<p>The Slayer looked over at the marauder intending to write something serious but they both burst into laughter before he could even grab his pen. This whole day had been insane and absolutely awful. </p>
<p>“Wait, wait.” The marauder stifled his laughter, “I just want to be serious for a second. Should we just say what happened today was from booze or... is that who we really are?” </p>
<p>‘If it came down to you or all of humankind I... I honestly don’t know what I’d do...’ he turned to face his love, ‘but you aren’t “just another demon” to me,’ he reached out and placed a hand on the marauder’s knee, ‘You make me happy, and you make me laugh, and you make me smile. You also make me cry and feel emotions I haven’t felt in eons.’ He scooted down to the marauder’s end of the couch and hugged him, ‘I love you.’ </p>
<p>“I love you too. God I love you.” He hugged the man back. “I never meant to sound so agressive and possessive. I’m worried about the icon, sure, but I’m not evil like that.” He shifted his legs and let the Slayer rest his helmeted head on his chest. “It amplified our fears and made us actual monsters. I don’t think that was the alcohol at all; I think it was some of that weird demon stuff I heard Sam talking about.” The marauder was slightly traumatized by the thought of drinking that stuff. It was close to wine but had just tasted off. He squeezed his precious Slayer closer. </p>
<p>‘That’s scary to think about.’ </p>
<p>“I’m just glad we are ok and we didn’t make any dumb decisions.” </p>
<p>‘Me too.’ He patted the demon’s arm, ‘Let’s get some rest and if we are good by morning would you want to fight the icon with me?’ </p>
<p>The marauder rubbed the man’s back. He was scared of course, who wouldn’t be, but he nodded his head in agreement, “Hell yeah.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Also!</p>
<p>Two lads from the discord made some STUNNING fics and I wanted to promote em cause AO3 can sometimes be unkind to anything not in the Explicit category. </p>
<p><a>This one</a> is about some trippy poetic stuff with the supervisor from the DLC. </p>
<p><a>And this one</a> is before the events of Doom Eternal and it’s fantastic</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Chapter 23</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Deep in the hull of the ship... Samuel was hysterically screaming at Daisy, “YOU LITTLE SHITTT!” He had come back from his wires, as seeing they were all in alignment, and was furious at the demon. </p><p>The little demon was gnawing on some of his favorite spare circuits and every time he reached out to grab her she hopped away, screeching. </p><p>“Put those DOWN!” He lunged at her, attempting to grab her, but only grabbed a hand full of the saliva covered circuits. </p><p>She growled, low and menacingly, attempting to bite his hand. </p><p>He changed his tone, “What do you want? Put my stuff down!”</p><p>Opening her mouth, she screamed at him and slammed her blades against the desk. </p><p>He paused, “Dammit, do you want your BFG?” </p><p>Happily, she nodded and sat down seemingly pleased. </p><p>Samuel crossed the room and grabbed a BFG cell. “Just make sure you don’t blow anything up. The gun will be smaller so one cell should give you about five shots.” Opening a drawer, he pulled out a strange looking gun. </p><p>It mirrored the Slayer’s BFG in its silver color and design, but its was longer and slimmer. There were two sharp spikes sticking out of the end by the opening of the barrel. </p><p>“You use it,” the robot snapped the cell into place, “by running up to a demon, stabbing these two spikes into them,” he tapped the razor sharp ends, “and then just pull the trigger.” Samuel handed her the gun, “I designed it with your anatomical scans in mind. It should fit to your grip quite well.” </p><p>Daisy grabbed the gun; one of her blades supported the back while the other rested on the side, ready to move to the trigger. It was perfect and powerful. Nodding happily, she made a pleased noise. </p><p>“Excellent, now get out.” He shooed the demon out of his workplace, sat down in a chair with his legs crossed, and one hand resting on his chin, deep in thought. “The idiots are upstairs. Were you trying to warn me earlier about the wine? When you were scratching at me as I went to talk to them.” He cocked his head and looked at her. </p><p>She rolled her eyes and nodded. Of course, she was trying to warn him and Vega but they ignored her. Gargoyle have an amazing sense of smell and that wine was so sweet she knew something was off, but she couldn’t speak and just made a bunch of noises, “Screeeee Scree.” </p><p>“Ok, I’m sorry I ignored you enough yapping.” He leaned back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. Listening to the sound of Daisy’s blades on the floor.</p><p>Daisy held her BFG and scurried up stairs. Excited to show it to the two males. As she rounded the corner she was met with the sight of the two curled up together sleeping on the couch. Setting the BFG down, she walked over to them and hopped up on the couch. Her blades squished down the fabric of the couch; the springs within the couch made her bounce every so slightly with each step over to the two sleeping love bugs. </p><p>She gave them a cautious sniff, happy to see they didn’t reek of alcohol inside and out anymore. </p><p>The marauder eyes slowly opened up, and as soon as he saw Daisy his face lit up with a tired grin. “Hey pretty lady.” </p><p>She let out a squeak of happiness, bobbing her head. Being called lady made her feel classy. </p><p>“Come here,” he stretched out his free hand, the other wrapped around the sleeping Slayer’s shoulders, and hugged the gargoyle close to his chest alongside his boyfriend. With a loud, contented sigh he slipped back into sleep after a few minutes of enjoying the two little chaotic beings in his life snuggled on top of him. </p><p>A few hours later, the Slayer woke up. He felt dazed as he slowly and shakily propped himself up on one arm. He slid off the marauder’s chest and untangled their legs as he scribbled down a note to no one in particular. ‘Man, I hate waking up early.’ </p><p>He crawled to the other end of the couch and flopped down, staring at the note. No one saw this note so it really didn’t mean anything. No one asked him if he liked to wake up early, but he was realizing how good it felt to just talk to himself. He glanced over at his bookshelf, his eyes glazing over old books and random guides; a little scrap of paper caught his attention. Stretching his hand out, he pulled it out from between two books and was greeted with an absolutely hysterical sight across the makeshift cover in the marauder’s messy awful handwriting: “THE DOOMSLAYER’S HIGH RANT ‘BOUT SALAD.” It seemed like forever ago that he was hurt by a baron in the dungeon and the marauder had to take care of him while he was loopy from meds. He carefully tucked that valuable manuscript back in between the two books. </p><p>The marauder began muttering in his sleep and rolled on his side, pining Daisy against the couch. </p><p>In a sleepy daze, she snuggled in closer to him. </p><p>The Slayer smiled sadly at the both of them, not wanting to wake them up. Slowly, he worked up the courage and shook the marauder awake. </p><p>“Huh?” The demon woke up and looked up at him, “Is it time to go?”  </p><p>‘Only if you feel ok. I feel pretty good that stuff Vega gave us helped.’ The Slayer wanted to kneel down next to the couch but he knew if he rested he might not be able to get up. </p><p>The marauder stretched and yawned, “I’m ready.” He sat up and scooped Daisy up in his arms. </p><p>The gargoyle cracked one eye open and gave him a nasty look. </p><p>‘It’s time to head out Daisy.’ </p><p>Her mood changed, and she immediately leaped out of the marauder’s arms and ran over to where she placed her BFG and held it up to the Slayer with glee. </p><p>The man was taken aback for a second. ‘You have your own BFG? Who made it for you?’ </p><p>Daisy nodded her head and turned towards the door just as Samuel walked in the room, practically busting down the door. “Rise and shine you freaks. Go get dressed, get breakfast, and me and Vega can brief you while you eat.” </p><p>The Slayer slightly wanted to argue at Samuel’s snippy tone but he held his tongue. He was happy that Daisy had a weapon now. </p><p>After getting dressed and grabbing some food, the marauder sat on a console swinging his legs. He nibbled on some kind of fruit cup and listened to the briefing. </p><p>There Slayer leaned against the console by the marauder, and Daisy sat at his feet all dolled up in her armor. Samuel stood on the opposite side of the deck next to Vega’s console. </p><p>“You’ll travel to Nekravol and through the city until you reach the peak of the tower and jump into the stream of argent energy. Then, once you are in Urdak you will stop the Khan Maykr from awakening the Icon.” Vega paused for a while, “You will leave me in Urdak since you will need to navigate home. Please be safe.” </p><p>“Wait,” the marauder set his breakfast down, “We have to leave Vega behind? Will we see you again?”</p><p>“Oh I’m sure, eventually. It’s a worthy sacrifice... and I heard Urdak is quite pretty this time of year.” Vega’s voice sounded slightly more pensive and reserved, like he was saying goodbye without actually saying it. He was sad but he gladly accepted his fate. After all, he’d still be Vega no matter were he went! Chuckling, the AI spoke softly to Samuel, and Mr. Marauder, and Daisy, and, of course, the DoomSlayer. “You’ve all given me life that as an AI I never though I’d have. I value each and every thing you all do. Samuel, you are my creator and despite your flaws I trust you to take care of my family.” </p><p>The robot nodded his head and spoke in his deep somber voice, “Thank you Vega. Good luck in Urdak.” It was an honor to be trusted with the safety of Vega’s found family. He just hoped he’d be able to keep them safe as well as Vega did. </p><p>“Daisy, I convinced the Slayer to keep you and gave you the name ‘Daisy’ to comfort him. You’ve kept him sane in his battles with demons on earth and the ones within his head. In the coming fight please keep an eye out for him.” </p><p>The little gargoyle looked up at the ceiling with big innocent eyes and nodded, “Screee!” She’ll do whatever it takes to keep the Slayer safe and get him home, even if she doesn’t make the journey back with him. </p><p>“Mr. Marauder, you’ve helped the Slayer in ways I could never. You’re a good demon and I love to listen to your banter. I know Daisy, whom you had kept as messenger in the past, led you to him when he was hurt and you saved him, put down your weapons, and carried him into a portal that you did not know where it would lead. You have courage and I give you my blessing.” </p><p>The marauder teared up a bit at all the kind words with his name attached to them, “Thank you Vega. I was just doing what I felt I had to do. I’d give anything to take your place in Urdak. I’m gonna miss you Mr. Vega.” He smiled up at the ceiling. </p><p>Vega chuckled at his new favorite nickname then his tone became serious once more, “Slayer, there’s too much to say about you and too little time, but I want you to know that I cherished ever second we spent together and I hope that one day we meet again.” </p><p>The Slayer was stunned. He didn’t know what to say the love he felt in his heart towards the comrades around him made him feel giddy and overwhelmed, ‘I’m not very good with words like you but Vega you’re my best friend. It’s gonna be so quiet here without you. One day I’m gonna come back and get you out of Urdak. All of us,’ he motioned to the motley crew that was assembled around the deck, ‘will come get you. We will be fine fighting the Icon but promise me you’ll stay safe Vega.’</p><p>“Of course, I promise DoomSlayer I will stay safe and wait for you.” Then, there was a short pause; they almost thought the AI had disconnected, but he spoke one more time, “Oh and Daisy,” his voice sounded almost slightly teasing but definitely excited, “Good luck with ‘two’.” The noise of Vega disconnecting from the ceiling and putting himself into a small curved metal puck was odd. It made the fortress feel completely empty, as if a giant claw had scraped the warm homey feeling out of it and let a gaping void, despite the four standing together on the main deck. </p><p>Samuel reached his hand over to the console that once housed Vega and grabbed the puck, handing it to the Slayer. </p><p>The marauder looked over at Daisy, jokingly rolling his eyes, “Vega really had to wish you good luck with me and the Slayer? You’re the wild one.” </p><p>The gargoyle just shrugged and playfully bit at his foot, causing him to swing his legs away from her. </p><p>Samuel shook his head also wanting to keep the despair out of the air and continue the joke, “He didn’t even use proper grammar either. It should be ‘with those two’ not just ‘with two.’ It doesn’t make any sense in this context.” </p><p>Slayer knew Vega wouldn’t want him to be sad so he slipped the puck into his a pouch on his tool belt. ‘Samuel didn’t you program Vega? It kinda sounds like your fault.’ </p><p>“Oooooh he has a point.” The marauder gave the Slayer a fist bump and looked over at Samuel. </p><p>“I’m ignoring you and opening the portal.” He wagged his finger in the air as he turned his back to them and quickly opened the portal. </p><p>The marauder hopped off the console and took his shotgun off his belt. “Well, good luck everyone.”</p><p>‘Here we go!’ The Slayer gave the fortress one last look. He’d miss it while he was gone, he always did. </p><p>The three of them disappeared into the portal. Samuel stayed behind monitoring their vital signs and checking cameras he mounted to their chests. “What does it look like out there?” </p><p>The marauder rolled his eyes not sure what the doctor was expecting, “Hellish.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Chapter 24</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter isn’t 100% perfect but I had to get something out to you dudes. Sorry for the delay I got busy with irl stuff (but don’t worry it was all good exciting stuff) Plus I was worrying about the quality of the chapter and stressing over every spelling mistake. </p>
<p>The next few chapters are gonna be less fluffy and more important to the plot aka: ✨flashbacks✨</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Their first sight was of a large titan with its hands bound to rocky spires. Cherry red molten lava poured from its eyes into a pool of the hot liquid in front of them. Behind the chained beast rose the main tower. </p>
<p>The three made short work of the few fodder demons that ran at them. It seemed eerily silent for such a hellish place. Such a wide open area without even a single cacodemon or gargoyle in the sky was rare in hell. </p>
<p>They worked their way into the closest temple looking structure. A strange silence hung in the air between the three comrades. Between the lack of Vega’s chipper banter and the looming threat of the battle to come, it was hard to think of anything else. After walking down several long and twisting hallways, they came to a large open area. </p>
<p>Samuel was immediately in their ears directing them, “See that gate,” he highlighted a huge metal gate on the Slayer’s hud, “Stand on that glowing green platform until the gate opens and be careful. I’m sure there are demons near by.” </p>
<p>The Slayer walked over to the circular green play form and as soon as he touched it the green light disappeared and a tyrant appeared in a wall of flames in front of him. </p>
<p>The marauder didn’t waste a second and was immediately blasting the demon with his super shotgun. </p>
<p>The beast roared as the Slayer starting chain gunning its tough hide, ripping chunks of flesh off. </p>
<p>Daisy slipped between the fire, flying up above the demon, and ramming the spikes of the BFG into its skull. Blood poured from its mouth, splattering the ground as she pulled the trigger and vaporized whatever brain matter was between the spikes, effectively taking a chunk out of the tyrant’s head. </p>
<p>The Slayer was impressed and proud but he didn’t have time to congratulate her as other demons began flooding into the arena. </p>
<p>As his muscles worked and bulged under his armor, he realized that it was significantly easier to fight. He didn’t have to dash around the arena taking shots at the demons. He could almost plant himself in place and take them on with the help of the marauder and Daisy. </p>
<p>The marauder finished a particularly annoying carcass with a swipe of his axe, crunching its skull into the ground with a stomp. </p>
<p>Daisy bit the head off a whiplash and leaped to her next victim as the demon’s body writhed and hit the floor. </p>
<p>The Slayer barely broke into a sweat while fighting a cyber mancubus that wandered into the arena. The eerie silence took over once more now that the arena was cleared of the demonic presence. He walked over and stood on the glowing green platform. The three rings that hovered above it slowly sunk down into the ground and opened the huge door that lead down into a pit. </p>
<p>“Wait we have to jump down there?” The marauder glanced at the drop all the way down to the stone floor below. It had to be at least a hundred feet. </p>
<p>‘Daisy will glide. I guess you don’t have a preator suit to stop the fall from hurting you...’ the Slayer looked over at him, ‘I have an idea.’ </p>
<p>“What is it?” Before the marauder could even look over at the Slayer he was being scooped up bridal style. “W-what are you doing!” He glanced around hoping no one saw, and he was immediately trying to hide a blush forming across his face. “I have some reputation to uphold you know! I can’t be seen just leaping into your arms- OH CHRIST NO NO NO!” </p>
<p>The Slayer leaped over the edge holding the marauder close to him. He expected it to be more romantic, but the marauder screamed in terror the whole way down. Just before they splattered on the floor, he activated the rockets in his boots, stopping the brunt of the fall from hurting them, and they landed on the floor in one piece. The Slayer didn’t account for the extra weight he was holding and stumbled forwards, dropping the marauder and tumbling over him. </p>
<p>Daisy was gently gliding down like a blossom dropped from a tree in bloom, watching the idiots on the floor below. When she landed they had cleaned themselves up and were ready for battle. </p>
<p>A baron busted out of an alcove on one of the walls of the pit, the Slayer swapped between his rockets, ballista, and shotgun, making the monster stop in its tracks in a daze. He saw the chance to attack and leaped forwards, slicing and cutting the beast. He turned to the marauder as Daisy landed between the two. ‘That wasn’t so bad.’ </p>
<p>The marauder just rolled his eyes and held up a middle finger at the Slayer. “At least warn me first.” </p>
<p>Daisy laughed in a cute but screechy way, and the Slayer walked over to her and scratched her head. </p>
<p>“Ok so now where do we go?” The marauder glanced at the Slayer. “I’ve only been in Nekravol once. So I... don’t remember much.” </p>
<p>‘Really, when?’ The Slayer tapped the side of his helmet trying to get Samuel’s attention. </p>
<p>“When I was still a sentinel. They took me here and I transformed.” He looked up at the spire that was just barely visible towering over the pit. “I always loved this place. The transformation was slow and I was able to enjoy the sights a good bit.” </p>
<p>The Slayer was always surprised just how much the marauder liked being a demon. He didn’t see it as bad, of course; he was happy that he could be comfortable in his own unholy skin. ‘It does look like a death metal album. Just a little hot for me though.’ The barons corpse behind him burst into flames and turned to dust. </p>
<p>Samuel finally responded, but he had a static muffling his voice, “Damn wires on the fritz...” </p>
<p>The marauder yelled out to the man, “SAM!” </p>
<p>“What?!” His voice finally came through. “Go to the left there’s some kind of puzzle to push out the block and crawl up the wall to one of those cages.” </p>
<p>‘Always a puzzle...’ he grumbled as Daisy simply flew up to the cage that was suspended along the side of the pit, mocking the two males by flapping her little wings. </p>
<p>“Well, I have an idea!” The marauder grinned, ran over to the Slayer, picked him up, and threw him at the wall. </p>
<p>The man dug his fingers into the wall and stuck like a gecko. Turning his head, he glared down at the marauder; then, he climbed up the wall and sat on the ledge. ‘Well smart ass, now how will you get up?’ </p>
<p>The marauder walked to the center of the pit, took a deep breath, and sprinted to the wall. His foot hit the stone and he launched himself up into the air, landing next to the Slayer. He gave the man a sly smile, “Like that.” </p>
<p>Samuel’s voice spoke through the speaker, “Enough, enough, get in the cage. The rest is easy.” </p>
<p>The Slayer opened the door to the cage and crawled inside; the marauder followed him and they squeezed in together facing each other. The metal wire holding them creaked and groaned as they were lead across a chasm. The Slayer shuttered and stared up at the wire. </p>
<p>“Here,” the marauder grabbed the man and hugged him close, “turn around and put you back against me.” </p>
<p>The Slayer did as he was told and let the marauder embrace him, ‘Hey look there are gargoyles down there.’ </p>
<p>Daisy flapped her wings along side them and glanced down at the massive swarms of the demons far below them. </p>
<p>“Oh yeah!” The marauder leaned forward, lurching the cage forwards, slightly terrifying the Slayer, and pointed at a steep cliff, “Look at the rock. That’s a huge gargoyle nest.” He turned to Daisy, “Do you know any of them?” </p>
<p>Daisy shook her head and stared at the nest. A few gargoyles stared up at her. She could see their mandibles drip with saliva and blood from their recent metal enhancements. Most of them were only through the first round of enhancements of splitting the jaw and didn’t have the bones in their forearms replaced with blades like hers. </p>
<p>The Slayer stared down at the gargoyles; then, glanced ahead as they entered the very underbelly of the demonic fortress. </p>
<p>Suddenly a door opened up revealing a massive brain wrapped in a purplish-bluish shield. It overlooked a huge pit of lava that was dotted with stone slabs to stand on. </p>
<p>“That’s Kalibas, the sightless judge. It determines who is fit to begin to soul extraction process. The rest will be discarded to the Blood Swamps.” </p>
<p>The marauder tensed up and stared down the brain, “Samuel we don’t need a fucking tour. How do we hurt that damned brain?” </p>
<p>He put his hand on his chin, deep in thought, and leaned towards a computer screen that was showing a direct feed from the Slayer’s chest camera. “Shoot the eyes; I think there are four.”</p>
<p>‘How are we gonna get out of this cage?’ The Slayer loaded his shotgun and began looking for an exit to the rusty cage. </p>
<p>“I just hope it doesn’t drop-“ </p>
<p>The bottom of the cage snapped and they both fell onto one of the stone platforms in the center of the arena. </p>
<p>The marauder landed hard on his side, knocking the breath out of him and making tears prick in the corners of his eyes. “DAMMIT! Ahhh fuck that hurt.” By the time he struggled to his feet the Slayer had already taken out two of the eyes and a few pain elementals that dared to get in his way. He struggled to his feet and leapt over to one of the eyes, slicing at it with his axe. </p>
<p>The eyes glared at him; the whites were bloodshot red and it’s pupil dilated as he landed the finishing blow. He was splattered with purple goo all across his face and chest. </p>
<p>While the two males fought Daisy had landed on a stone outcropping and as she went to leap into the fight a gargoyle bit down on her ankle and dragged her to the floor. A second appeared out of nowhere and tried to bite her face. The three were locking in a twisting, thrashing, screaming pile of wings. </p>
<p>Whipping his head around he searched for the Slayer in the arena. “Where are you?” The man sprinted past the demon and fired a ballista shot at the final eye. </p>
<p>The man was covered in gore and purple goo from the eyes. Under all his armor, he was panting heavily from the exertion of being so close to so much lava. He frantically looked for his friends now that the main threat was gone. </p>
<p>The marauder waved him over but before he could say anything he saw Daisy fighting the other gargoyles, “DAISY!” </p>
<p>Immediately, the Slayer lifted up his ballista, trying to get a shot on the two attackers. It was too chaotic, he lowered the gun; the marauder jumped on to the rocky platform, his boots skidding and showering pebbles into the lava, and smashed into the chaotic pile. Reaching into the pile, he grabbed Daisy and yanked her away from the assault. “STAY AWAY FROM HER YOU DEMONS!” </p>
<p>The Slayer immediately shot both of the attacking gargoyles now that he had a clear shot. He scrambled over the rocks and got to the marauder who was gently holding her. </p>
<p>“She’s ok.” He cradled her despite her violent protests of biting his arm and fingers. “There’s no blood.”</p>
<p>‘Put her down.’ The Slayer placed his hand on his lover’s shoulder. </p>
<p>She gave both of them a wild look, before realizing her attackers were gone. Then, she happily trotted over to them with a big grin on her mandibles. </p>
<p>‘Good job killer. They hit you with a cheap shot but you held em off.’ The Slayer squatted down and patted her head. ‘Let’s head out. Samuel what’s next?’</p>
<p>Daisy looked away from the Slayer’s affections and glanced out of the cave at the seemingly endless pit of lava underneath the gargoyle nest they had traveled over; memories of her younger days surfaced and she stood looking out at the vista of hell.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Love y’all so much I love writing fics and seeing such a good response. You dudes make it so worth the time I put in.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Chapter 25</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Daisy has a flashback about how she received her metal enhancements.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TW: A lot of gore and referenced medical violence (but not descriptions of the actual procedures) </p>
<p>I’ll be going back to any chapter with trigger warnings giving it a short little summary for those who wanna know what plot points happen but don’t wanna have to read through icky stuff </p>
<p>Also holy crap this is a long chapter</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She could barely open her eyes. All she could make out was a blur of reds and greys in front of her. Warmth radiated from bodies of her fellow gargoyles next to her. </p>
<p>She was in the community ‘pile.’ A wriggling mess of wailing, squeaking baby gargoyles, of course they were called squabs as slang. Other demons have similar methods of child care. The good old throw ‘em in a pile and make a few adults take care of them. </p>
<p>Gargoyles just tossed their spawn in the pile and hope for the best. There were no caretakers of any sort, only the kind minority who would toss scraps into the pile just to watch the babies struggle to eat them. </p>
<p>Of course, Daisy didn’t have her loving name given to her by Vega, not yet at least. She was referred to as “The big one,” but when she remembers back on her time as a squab she likes to think she’s always been Daisy. </p>
<p>Daisy was decently sized and had earned the affections of the scrap bearers. They made sure to feed her well and she could bully the others into getting plenty of food, unlike the starving runts that sat on the edges of the pile. She had her own warm resting spot in the center that allowed her to enjoy the body heat of all the others. </p>
<p>She was the strongest and most powerful; it felt good to have her claws sunk deep into the possibly that she really would grow up to be and adult and leave the pile. </p>
<p>A clawed hand reached down and picked her up. She screamed and thrashed around, attempting to bite whatever grabbed her, as she was yanked away from her resting spot. </p>
<p>“Hush now little one. You’ll need to save that energy.” </p>
<p>She struggled to open her eyes and made out the face of an ugly looking man with grey skin wearing a weird hat. </p>
<p>“Open your eyes all the way.” The man turned his head to face one of the gargoyle she recognized as a scrap bearer. “Is this one... defective?” </p>
<p>There were the screeches of a gargoyle and then a translator out of view spoke, “Apparently not. They open their eyes much later compared to other demons.” </p>
<p>The man held Daisy’s body in his palm and steadied her head in between his thumb and forefinger and with his other hand he slowly pried her eyes open. “There. Now go do that with all the others we collect. We want them to be warriors not blind slugs.” </p>
<p>Daisy’s new view was blurred by tears. Every blink stung her burning sensitive eyes that were now exposed to the hot stinging air of hell. She started whimpering and curled in on herself. </p>
<p>A chorus of howls and shrieks exploded from the gargoyles that had gathered around; the translation spoke nervously to the man, “Deag Grav that one your holding has become their favorite squab. They say if you want to take that one it was cost an extra carcass.” </p>
<p>Deag Grav let out an annoyed huff and sighed, “Why would I do that? The payment for twenty of these little squirming slugs was five pinky carcasses. I’m already overpaying.”</p>
<p>A female gargoyle lunged off a ledge behind Deag Grav and snatched Daisy out of his hand. She turned and sprinted down one of the long tunnels carved into the rock ways of the huge sprawling gargoyle’s nest. </p>
<p>She was only holding Daisy here temporarily until the threat of Deag Grav running off without paying was gone. The adult pitied the little child. She had such a bright future as a gargoyle only to be sold for a heap of flesh to become a test dummy for experimentation. Of course she didn’t care too much since pinky was her favorite meal. </p>
<p>Ten minutes later another gargoyle came down the hallway and took Daisy back out to priest. The screaming crowd of gargoyles that had defended Daisy were gone, all of them were now busy a few rooms over feasting on six pinky carcasses. </p>
<p>“Now come here little one.” Deag Grav cradled Diasy close to him, “I have such high hopes for you.” </p>
<p>At the time she didn’t know what was going to happen. All she knew is that she was cold and her eyes hurt. All the stress made her fall asleep. </p>
<p>Looking back, she wished she would have stayed up. To this day it still bothered her that she didn’t know how the hell priest had gotten into or out of the gargoyle’s protected nest. The image of him riding a cacodemon was her own personal idea. </p>
<p>When Daisy woke up, she was in the the main spire of Nekravol. Her eyes flashed open, she still wasn’t used to being able to see, and the little demon lifted her head from where she was sleeping. It was a little dip in the stone floor, with sides far too smooth for her to climb out. </p>
<p>She jumped at the feeling of something cold and metal touch her foot. Bending her childish oversized head downwards, she looked at her feet only to find she was standing on a little metal grate. She basically was stuck in a little sink. Its shiny metal gleam caught her eye and she pried it up from its hole with her hands and placed it on her head like a hat, holding it with both of her tiny clawed hands. </p>
<p>Looking back, she realized that sometimes she really missed her hands. </p>
<p>It made her feel happy so she started squeaking to try and alert the other gargoyles to her new found treasure. She couldn’t see them due to her line of sight being blocked by the dip but she could hear their little whimpers close by in their own dips evenly placed about the floor. </p>
<p>She slowly put the drain down, bummed that no one saw her treasure. Her happy squeaks turned to little whimpers like the rest of the gargoyles squabs until she finally went silent and fell asleep. </p>
<p>The next few hours of sleep were shallow and Daisy woke up several times, deciding to pace around the bottom of her tiny circular pit. She was pacing when the noise of a huge door opening shook the whole room. Every whimper was immediately silenced. </p>
<p>The hell priest Deag Grav walked in, scanning his newly claimed brood of squabs. “Excellent. All twenty seem to be in good health.” </p>
<p>An archvile followed close behind, adorned in a black sash of fabric across his chest and some pieces of black armor on his shoulders. </p>
<p>“Well Grim, you’re the mastermind of this operation. Who’s first?” The hell priest turned around to face the demon. “I have to leave for a meeting with the other priest’s about that new line of ‘experiments’ soon so I can only watch one of your marvelous works.” He laughed, grabbing Grim’s arm with his scrawny shriveled hand and motioning out to the pits. </p>
<p>Daisy listened to the two for a few minutes as they poked and prodded the other gargoyles, making the poor squabs squeal and run around the bottom of their pits in a futile attempt to escape, but she quickly lost interest and began playing with the drain cap again. Placing the little metal grate on her head, she chirped to try and attract some attention from the priest and archville. </p>
<p>The Grav’s face immediately appeared over the side of the pit, “Quit that squeaking you little-“ </p>
<p>Daisy took the grate off her head and launched it up at face. It didn’t even get close to touching him but it was enough to make him stop speaking and recoil away. </p>
<p>“Grim!” He spoke in a whiney tone, “This one tried to attack me!” </p>
<p>Grim spoke in a calm yet excited voice, “Excellent,” he glanced over at how pissed the priest was, “I mean it’s good it they have some fight in them. We’ll pick you.” He reached down and grabbed Daisy. </p>
<p>She stared up at the demon and he cradled her against his chest. </p>
<p>The hell priest dramatically dusted off his robes, “Now hurry up before I’m late. We already wasted enough time picking out one of the ugly rats.” </p>
<p>“Patience dear friend. An army is not raised over night. Besides,” as he walked towards the door he cast a glance over his shoulder at the room, “we want these ones to fare better than that first batch.” </p>
<p>Daisy was too afraid to try and escape from the demons huge claws and menacing grip, so she obediently looked around, her head bobbing with every large step the demon took. </p>
<p>Grim carried her into a room and placed her on a stone slab in the middle that was so smooth she could barely get a foot hold. He pulled over a large metal contraption, grunting with the effort and casting an annoying glance at the Grav who didn’t bother to even offer any help. Grim bent down and grabbed a hose that had a clear cone on the end. Daisy panicked and tried to scurry off the table, but Grim grabbed her by the leg and pulled her back to the center. “This won’t hurt a bit.” </p>
<p>He placed the cone over Daisy’s entire body, trapping her. She began shrieking and trying to attack the clear plastic. </p>
<p>“So much fight! Just go to sleep little one.” The hell priest watched as Grim turned on the metal machine he dragged over. </p>
<p>Daisy struggled for only a few seconds after the gas hit her nose; then, she slowly slid down the plastic sides of the cone. She couldn’t move or run and everything slowly faded into darkness. </p>
<p>When she woke up she could feel she was back in her little pit. The smooth stone under her claws helped cool her panicked mind down. Her head was tightly bandaged by straps of dirty fabric. </p>
<p>Slowly, without opening her eyes, she used her claws to remove the bandages. As soon as they were in a bloody crumpled pile by her feet, her jaw hung open completely mangled by the surgery. It had been split in two. Her mandibles moved independently of each other and each tooth in her mouth had been replaced with a metal spike. Luckily, nothing hurt and everything was still numb. </p>
<p>It was then she heard the whimpering of all the other gargoyles around her. She couldn’t see them but she heard them and smelt a sickening amount blood. The room no longer was filled with the sounds of twenty little squabs; there were maybe only ten silent whimpers. </p>
<p>The next two weeks Daisy sat in her little pit and slowly felt her jaw heal. Each day the pain subsided little by little and she felt somewhat better. </p>
<p>Grim would occasionally pick her up and check on her, forcing her two separate bottom jaws apart and listening to her whimper. He happy that they had grown so much in the two weeks, but he was displeased that so many of them had lost the will to live already. Daisy, despite how her glazed eyes stared off into the distance while her head uselessly flopped in his hands, was doing the best out of all of them. </p>
<p>At that point he simply gave up on the brood, taking them all out of their pits and putting them in a pile in the middle of the floor. As he closed the large door, the ten survivors stared at each other. </p>
<p>They actually began to perk up now that they were in their familiar pile. Daisy quickly took on her role as leader after a day or so, but she didn’t stay at the center of the pile she guarded the edges, keeping the weaker ones protected. </p>
<p>It only took two days for hunger to set in among the survivors. They all gathered together in a huddle facing each other, staring menacingly, and waiting for one to show a sign of weakness. </p>
<p>Daisy was staring down the scrawniest male among them down when a scent cause her attention and she broke away from the huddle. A scrawny female chased her down, mistaking her walking away with an acceptance of defeat, but Daisy whirled around, grabbed her, and tossed her back into the huddle, barring her horrific mangled snarl and puffing out her still useless wings, since she didn’t know how to fly. </p>
<p>The scent caught her attention once again. Daisy could smell food, meat. Her yellowish glowing eyes darted to a barred window she was positive she could squeeze through. The idea of food rattled around her brain again and again, making her wiggle through the bars and leap out of the window. </p>
<p>She overshot the ledge of the window by few inches and fell. It was at that moment she realized just how high up the main spire of neckravol was. It was suspended thousands of feet above a sea of frothing lava, and she was hurtling right down towards it. The little demon fully believed she was about to die, until she smacked the railing of a balcony and landed in the middle of it in a crumpled heap. There was no time to recover. She hobbled inside whatever entrance the balcony led too, desperately following the scent of food. </p>
<p>It was a small room and it seemed to be a store room for ingredients of some sort. Daisy’s face lit up, she leap onto one of the shelves and began tearing into a sack of some type of preserved meat. She didn’t care what it was only that it tasted delicious. The sack was almost twice her size but she felt stronger than she ever. Grabbed it with her split jaw, she dragged it out onto the balcony. Her jaw screamed in pain but she ignored it as she dug her claws in the rough outside of the spire of Nekravol. </p>
<p>She slowly climbed up the side; her claw slipped and she just barely caught her self. In a panic she flapped her wings chaotically. With the last bit of her strength she was able to get a foot hold and rest for a moment, despite blood dripping out of the still healing wound of her split jaw. She struggled and her head finally emerged victoriously above the edge. The survivors chirped with happiness and swarmed her, reaching out their clawed hands and dragging not only the bag but their leader into the room excitedly. Once she was safe, they all retreated a few steps back in respect of their new food bringer. Daisy caught her breath and slowly unclenched her jaw, allowing the bag to fall onto the floor. She had held it so tightly her metal teeth had punctured the roof of her mouth. She was still scared she was going to drop it despite being on solid ground. </p>
<p>Slowly, she stuck her hands in the bag and distributed the chunks of meat out to her horde.</p>
<p>For a three days they survived off the meat until the huge door swung open and Grim entered the room. He expected to see the corpses of a few squabs, but he instead saw Daisy, now double her original size, hissing at him, protecting her horde. </p>
<p>She charged him in a rage but he grabbed her. “You die WHEN I SAY YOU DIE. HOW DARE YOU LIVE AND REBEL AGAINST ME!” </p>
<p>Chaos unfolded as the gargoyles charged him, but he shoved them back, slamming the door in their face and dragging Daisy out into the hallway. She twisted and screamed, getting the better of him and biting his face. The feeling of her tooth puncturing his eye was something that stuck with her for the rest of her days. She remembered only two things between that moment and passing out: her head being slammed against a wall and the Grav screaming at Grim to be gentle with a squab in good health; then, the world went black. </p>
<p>When she woke up, it was the same as before. She was back in the room with the little pits in the floor surrounded by whimpering, crying gargoyles. The only good thing that came to mind about the suffering around her was the fact it still sounded like all ten members of her horde were alive. </p>
<p>This time Daisy didn’t hop up and take off bandages to reveal whatever monstrous thing had be done to her, what body part now mutilated. She could feel her arms weren’t right but she couldn’t bare to look down. </p>
<p>So she tuned out the whimpers of her fellow gargoyles and drifted off into a fitful sleep. </p>
<p>Eventually, she’d learn to love the pain of her modifications and the fact that they made her stronger and better than any gargoyles that came before her wrath, but for now she curled up in a pit that she could now easily step out of and whimpered for relief to come. </p>
<p>In a few rooms away from the lab both Grim and Grav sat at a table. Half of Grim’s face was bandaged haphazardly. </p>
<p>Two holograms tuned into the room of the other hell priests Ranak and Nilox. The three priests argued for a while about dumb policies that Grim didn’t give a rat’s ass about. So he leaned back in his chair, put his feet on the table, and lit up a cigar, taking time to savor each hit and reminisce on his lost of depth perception.</p>
<p>When the topic of conversation finally turned to his line of work he took a paper out of his sash and began reading off it, “There are currently ten gargoyles that have my modifications implanted in them. They are stronger and far more vicious than the current breed. The only issue with my process is the fact that there are billions of gargoyles in hell and-“</p>
<p>He was cut off by Deag Ranak, “Oh leave that up to me and my mechanical creations! I’ll have at least half the population weaponized by the end of the month!” </p>
<p>“Ahh so you just sent me here to see if it could be done.” Grim was hurt by this new plan of the priests. He thought this was a long term project not just a one time job. </p>
<p>Deag Grav turned to him, “Not necessarily. If you are still interested there’s a new program we have that’s just about to start.” </p>
<p>Grim shrugged and huffed on his cigar angrily, “Well what is it?” </p>
<p>“It’s called the sunshine project. It’s very new and very exciting.” Deag Ranak nodded with an ugly grin on his face. </p>
<p>“Sounds lame and stupid. That’s the frilliest, gayest name I’ve ever heard.” He went to stand up from his chair to leave but was stopped by Deag Grav grabbing his arm. </p>
<p>“It’s about making a new terrifying solider! We were going to call them the sunshine warriors to confuse the enemies.” Deag Grav spoke in his whiny voice. The other priests around him nodded happily and agreed. </p>
<p>“Fine I’ll work on the program under one condition: I get to name it.” </p>
<p>“But I picked out the name...” Deag Nilox grumbled under his breath, “I though it was quite clever too.” </p>
<p>“Deal. What name do you have in mind?” Deag Ranak leaned in towards Grim, stretching the bounds of the hologram and making his body blurry. </p>
<p>As Grim took his cigar out of his mouth he noticed a tiny manufacturing error. Instead of ‘Lara uder’s Famous Cigars’ the name was smashed together and the ‘L’ was horribly misshapen, looking more like a ‘M’ the more Grim stared at it. Without looking up he spoke, “How about the Marauders?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Updates are now like every two ish weeks and it’s not always gonna be on Friday anymore so a little bit of a change but the fic will continue!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Chapter 26</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>THANK YOU DUDES SO MUCH FOR READING  &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Daisy snapped out of her daze and glanced over at the two males who were questioning Samuel for directions. </p>
<p>The robot talked them through hallway after hallway of demonic hordes. The Slayer led the way with the marauder behind him and Daisy bringing up the rear. Suddenly he was stopped by the marauder’s hand grabbing his shoulder. </p>
<p>“There’s a buff totem up ahead.” His voice sounded different, more scratchy and demonic. </p>
<p>The Slayer turned to face him and was greeted with an awesome yet horrific sight. </p>
<p>The marauder’s head and body was wrapped in bright red flames that seemed to blossom from within him; his eyes were glowing cherry red and flames were escaping from his mouth, licking up the sides of his face. He gave the Slayer an odd look, noticing how the man stared at him in awe, “What? You’ve never seen the effects of a buff totem before?” </p>
<p>The Slayer quickly scribbled out a note, ‘I haven’t seen them on you before.’ He continued staring at the demon, ‘Does it hurt?’</p>
<p>The marauder glanced over his shoulder at Daisy who just walked into the effect zone of the totem and burst into flames, “No, it feels... different, but it doesn’t hurt.” </p>
<p>Daisy bounded over to the Slayer eagerly showing him her flames. </p>
<p>The Slayer knelt down and reached out slowly, hovering his hand over her head. Once he deemed the flames to be strangely absent of heat, he petted her head still in awe of how the flames didn’t burn his armored hand. </p>
<p>The marauder tapped him on his shoulder with a flaming claw, “Um... can we go fight something?” </p>
<p>The Slayer looked up at him to see the flames coming out of his skull had become hotter and were burning even brighter than before; some of them were even turning blue with the heat coming off of him. For some reason he couldn’t explain the blue flames coming off the demon gave the Slayer some odd sick feeling. It made him scared for a split second and he hated that he didn’t know why. </p>
<p>He snapped out of it quickly. </p>
<p>‘Sure, it’s just right up ahead. Is something wrong?’ The Slayer stood up and reached out for the marauder to give him a pat on the shoulder. </p>
<p>He backed away from the Slayer, “No we better not touch. I just feel like I have to fight.” He flexed his hands into fists. Sweat that was dripping down the sides of the demon’s face began shining like rubies as they reflected the flames around them. </p>
<p>Samuel chimed into the conversation with a carefree, calm tone, “Is the marauder still alive? His vital signs are all over the place. I think his heart should have exploded about thirty seconds ago.” </p>
<p>The Slayer didn’t take the time to write a note he nodded to the marauder, quickly leading them down a passage way. They came upon a two huge walls blocking their path forwards. Suddenly, they both slowly lifted up, spikes lining their undersides. As the Slayer went to step forwards, they slammed back down into the floor. </p>
<p>“It’s a puzzle sort of thing. Run through when the spikes are up and don’t get mashed into paste.” Samuel spoke to the trio. </p>
<p>The Slayer scanned the deadly trap, scooped Daisy in one hand and held the marauder’s flaming hand in his second, and yanked them through the trap while the walls ominously hung above their heads.</p>
<p>As soon as he was through, the walls slammed shut behind them. The marauder let out an unholy roar; flames sparking and exploding out of his skull at the sight of the demons. All the demons in the room also had the flames covering their bodies but they didn’t look nearly as terrifying as the marauder. The Slayer’s only though as he leapt into battle and searched for the totem in a sea of demons was: he definitely wouldn’t ever wanna be at end of a buffed marauder’s rage. </p>
<p>The demon lunged for an arachnotron that was preparing to shoot at the Slayer. </p>
<p>It let out a screech of horror as it saw the marauder charge towards it. “WAIT HOLY SHIT DUDE WE’RE ON THE SAME SIDE-“ </p>
<p>He cut off its begging by grabbing its head and ripping right off its fleshy brain body. At this point the demons erupted into a panicked mob. Imps desperately trying to escape the marauder and Daisy who was gutting the poor flaming creatures where they stood. </p>
<p>The Slayer spotted the buff totem, its red hue was perched on top of a ledge on the far wall of the arena. He sprinted in its direction and used a cyber mancubus that had just recently spawned into the arena as a jump boost, planting his armored boot right in between its ugly stare. As he landed on the ledge, he swung his muscled arm, shattering the totem. Its red hue vanished from the demons in the arena, including the marauder. </p>
<p>He froze for a second at the sudden lack of power flowing through his veins. An imp took advantage of his moment of weakness and frantically swung at him with its claws. The pain of claws slicing his side snapped him out of his daze and he punched the imp’s screeching face as well as trying to grab the demons limbs to stop the assault. The demon only grew angrier, realizing it might as well go down with a fight, and sliced at the center of the marauder’s chest, and peeled his breast plate off his bloodied skin. The marauder flinched backwards and held up his arms to protect his face and neck. </p>
<p>“You’re a scourge upon demon kind allying with the... Slayer-“ </p>
<p>The marauder snatched the imps arm as the demon spoke and snapped it backwards. The imp fell to the floor howling and thrashing in pain. He quickly tied his breastplate back into place and ignored the sting of his mild wounds. The marauder tried not to think about that vermin’s comment on his honor as he ran over to help the Slayer deal with the cyber mancubus. </p>
<p>Daisy hadn’t even faltered when the flames of the buff totem stopped swirling around her. She swung her BFG in a circle, lacerating any thing that dared come within the reach of the two spikes at the end of her gun. The only thought bouncing around in her head was how much more effective her weapon would be if the spikes were serrated, but she was happy it did it’s job well as she ripped the organs out of the last imp like confetti. </p>
<p>She glanced around the arena looking for her Slayer. At the sight of the Slayer and marauder ganging up on the last demon in the arena, the cyber mancubus, Daisy let out an excited chirp and sprinted over to them. </p>
<p>The demon truly looked terrified. It glanced between the trio as they slowly walked closer to her. Her beady glowing eyes focused on the marauder and the cyber mancubus spoke in a scratchy guttural voice,  “Aren’t you one of us?” </p>
<p>He whipped off his mask with the hand that wasn’t clutching his axe, “Don’t start that shit with me. Shut up and accept your doom. We have you three to one.” </p>
<p>She leaned forwards, mockingly, on the large cannons that made up her arms, “I was just trying to figure out the mystery of why one of hell’s most beloved demons just up and left. I think I have a right to know before I die.” </p>
<p>The Slayer glanced between the mancubus and his lover. He was beyond confused that demons were talking and suddenly so interested in the marauder. His face went beat red under his helmet. Of course he wasn’t ashamed of being in a relationship with the marauder... but the thought of every demon in hell knowing they were together made him feel sick with embarrassment. </p>
<p>“It’s my life you don’t deserve to know jack shit,” he raised his axe and pointed it at her ugly maw, “Now shut up and die.” </p>
<p>The Slayer took that as a signal to shoot and rapidly switched between his rocket launcher and ballista, and before the mancubus could even scream in agony her gut exploded. The force of which turned her body into a puddle of gore surrounding a mangled spinal cord that was topped with her still intact, wretched face. Luckily the trio had jumped well clear of the noxious puddles of green oozing from the body. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry about that.” The marauder looked over sadly at the Slayer, his face furrowed. </p>
<p>The Slayer walked over to the demon, confused at the sudden change of tone. He stopped to pat a gore covered Daisy on the head ‘What’s wrong?’ </p>
<p>“Just the buff totem, the demons constantly bitching about me leaving, and, hell, I still feel shitty about the whole wine fiasco.” He sighed and scratched the back of his neck, “I just feel like a really shitty person right now. Like all the shit we’ve been through got all fucked up cause of that wine,” he groaned and placed his hands over his face, “and I still have to tell you about my past and I’m dreading that but I know I shouldn’t be afraid because I trust you and-“</p>
<p>The Slayer cut the man off by giving him a hug. He could feel the tense muscles in his grip slowly relax. He handed the demon a note, ‘It’s ok. We already worked out the wine thing. The buff totem wasn’t your fault. I thought you looked cool! The demons talking and your past is stuff we can tackle later.’</p>
<p>The marauder shook his head, “I just still can’t believe I said such awful possessive stuff like that and I just keep thinking: is that who I am?” </p>
<p>The Slayer shook his head. He was almost annoyed at the marauder at this point because he is simply blind to the fact he’s such an amazing demon, ‘If you were actually possessive or abusive you wouldn’t be worrying about saying that stuff, but you are worrying about it and you care about my opinions. Besides, that wine was basically demon piss in a bottle no wonder we went crazy for a little bit.’ </p>
<p>The marauder very cautiously nodded his head in agreement. He still wasn’t convinced by the Slayer’s argument. </p>
<p>Samuel’s voice broke the silence, “Mr. Marauder you’re about as possessive as a jelly bean. Also I’m sick about hearing about this damn devil piss wine. You got sick, the wine made you say nasty things, you apologized, and you are now moving on.” </p>
<p>“What about the whole we weren’t technically together thing?” The demon looked conflicted. “We are together now that we knew it was the wine making us batshit crazy, right?” </p>
<p>‘Of course, we snuggled together on the couch as soon as we figured that out. Hey,’ he pressed the mouth slits of his helmet to the marauder’s mask in a armored kiss, “I love you dear, don’t worry about that stuff it’s all taken care of now.” </p>
<p>“Hey lovely reconciliation and all but first of all Daisy is eating a Imp carcass and you two need to take a break before continuing.” </p>
<p>The Slayer whirled around, spotting the ornery little gargoyle munching on the carcass of a half dead imp. ‘Bad Daisy!’ He scooped up the demon and scolded her. ‘You can’t eat an imp that’s a bit much Daisy... do you want food?’ </p>
<p>She nodded and began nibbling at his hands. All this fighting had made her significantly more hungry than she usually got. </p>
<p>“Daisy don’t eat the Slayer.” The marauder chided her. “God you have a bad habit of eating creatures, first that gargoyle and now an imp.” </p>
<p>The Slayer set her down to rummage through his pockets for their rations, ‘I am glad you ate that little bastard gargoyle, but it did seem rude, Daisy.’ </p>
<p>She whined and tapped her blades on the ground. All this teasing and scolding was annoying her. She ate him cause she was hungry and didn’t need him anymore. Why couldn’t they understand that?</p>
<p>Samuel came to the small demons rescue, “Hush, let Daisy be, she’s just a psychopath like you two. Poor little thing are they bullying you?” </p>
<p>Daisy faked a whimper of sadness and nodded, but was quickly silenced when the Slayer tossed her a pack of crackers. With the ferocity of a starving animal, she ripped the tiny baggie they were in wide open and gobbled them down. </p>
<p>The Slayer then pulled a little granola bar out of his tool belt and split it into two pieces, handing one to the marauder. ‘Here I have some more rations but we can eat the rest when we get to Urdak.’ </p>
<p>The marauder looked down at the sweet man, tenderly holding out food to a demon. He seemed small and almost doll like compared to the huge monstrous demon. The marauder grabbed the half of the granola bar and blushed at the act of kindness, “Thank you Doomguy.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Sorry this took like forever for me to write. I got a job and lost it and got a new job and life has been... messy recently. </p>
<p>Thanks to all the people that gave kudos while this fic was on an unannounced hiatus seeing that people still read and find my works even though it’s not on the front page made me really happy.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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